Active Edge Site Exposed β-Ni(OH)2 Nanosheets on Stainless Steel Mesh as a Versatile Electrocatalyst for the Oxidation of Urea, Hydrazine, and Water

Energy generation through electrochemical conversion while addressing the environmental concerns has always been the topic of interest to the scientific community. Particularly, the development of low-cost and efficient electrocatalyst gained attention for large-scale energy and clean-energy production. But now the emphasis is on developing low-cost and efficient electrocatalyst materials that show more than one electrocatalytic reactions. Hence, we have developed a highly porous and active edge plane exposed beta-Ni(OH)(2) nanosheet on low-cost and flexible stainless-steel mesh (SSM) and investigated its catalytic activity for oxidation of urea, hydrazine, and water. The as-prepared beta-Ni(OH)(2)/SSM demonstrates the excellent catalytic activity towards the urea oxidation reaction (UOR), hydrazine oxidation reaction (HzOR), and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) with potential lower than the 1.45 V vs. RHE, 1.34 V vs. RHE, and 1.51 V vs. RHE at 50 mA/cm(2) current density, respectively. Furthermore, the as-prepared electrocatalyst demonstrates excellent stability in UOR, HzOR, and OER for long time. The promising electrocatalytic activity of as-prepared beta-Ni(OH)(2)/SSM electrocatalyst is attributed to the highly porous, and edge plane exposed binder-free thin nanosheets grown on SSM, which also adds to the mechanical structure stability and a large amount of mass transportation during electrocatalytic activity.

Automated summary

The study developed a highly porous and active electrocatalyst with excellent catalytic activity for urea oxidation reaction, hydrazine oxidation reaction, and oxygen evolution reaction, showing long-term stability. The catalyst's promising activity is attributed to the highly porous and edge plane exposed nanosheets grown on stainless steel mesh, which also enhances mechanical stability and mass transportation during electrocatalytic activity.