Spark plasma sintered catalytic nickel–copper alloy and carbon nanotube electrodes for the hydrogen evolution reaction

We report the proof-of-concept of spark plasma sintered (SPS) consolidated mesoporous composite catalytic electrodes based on nickel-copper alloys and carbon nanotubes for the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline media. The optimized electrode (203 m2 g-1, 5 wt% Ni75Cu25) operated at -0.1 A cm-2 (current of -0.15 A) for 24 h with a stable overpotential of about 0.3 V. This newly described freestanding SPS approach allows the rational control of specific surface area, metal loading, and electrocatalytic performance, thus opening a new route to catalytic electrodes with controllable physical and catalytic properties. This work provides a new strategy to synthesize a library of robust electrocatalytic electrodes containing nickel-copper alloys and carbon nanotubes for the hydrogen evolution reaction.