Chitosan Complex Based Hybrid Material as Catalyst for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Researchers from Platov South-Russian State Polytechnic University, et al. have conducted a study entitled “Chitosan complex based hybrid material as catalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction”. This study was published in Frontiers of Chemical Science & Engineering, Volume 19, Issue 6.

 

The hybrid material based on polyelectrolyte complexes of chitosan with oxycompounds of cobalt and nickel was electrodeposited on a stainless steel plate using the method of non-stationary electrolysis. The hybrid material layer was investigated by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. The electrocatalytic properties of the hybrid material were studied in the hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline electrolyte (1 mol·L−1 NaOH). It was determined that during the initial four-hour period of the hydrogen evolution process, the overpotential underwent a substantial decline, remaining constant for a minimum of 17 h thereafter, from 289 up to 210 mV at −10 mA·cm−2. After a long-term hydrogen evolution, the activity of the hybrid material electrode exceeded hydrogen evolution reaction activity by 20% Pt/C commercial catalyst at a high current density of −100 mA·cm−2.

 

Source:   Fuel Cells Works