Graphitic carbon nitride encapsulated sonochemically synthesized β-nickel hydroxide nanocomposites for electrocatalytic hydrogen generation

Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) carried out from electrocatalysis of water splitting is playing a major role in the production of green and clean hydrogen. In this paper, we report on the synthesis of graphitic carbon nitride on nickel hydroxide (g-C3N4/Ni(OH)(2)) nano-composites by a simple ultrasonication method. The characterizations include the XRD, Raman, FESEM and electrochemical studies to analyze the performance of the as developed material over hydrogen evolution reaction. The morphological analysis shows that the aggregated interconnected g-C3N4/Ni(OH)(2) (GCN/NH) nanocomposites with an average particle size of similar to 20 nm. These GCN/NH nanocomposites exhibit the lowest overpotential of 341 mV at 10 mA/cm(2) which is smaller than that of the pristine Ni(OH)(2) nanosheets at 367 mV. Further, the Tafel slope for GCN/NH nanocomposites reveals a lower value of 131 mV/dec. As a result, g-C3N4 decorated sheet-like beta-Ni(OH)(2) exhibits the potential hydrogen evolution in alkaline KOH solution. Excitingly, the as developed hybrid beta-Ni(OH)(2) nanocomposites show superior electrocatalytic behaviour during the hydrogen evolution reaction and also improve the catalytic stability than pure nanosheets. From these observations, one can say that this g-C3N4/Ni(OH)(2) nanocomposite electrocatalyst can play a splendid role in future energy technology. (c) 2022 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

In this paper, Ni(OH)(2)/g-C3N4 nano-composites were synthesized using a simple ultrasonication method and their performance in the hydrogen evolution reaction was characterized. The results showed that the composites exhibited low overpotential and Tafel slope, indicating excellent electrocatalytic performance and catalytic stability for hydrogen evolution.