Polyaniline-coated mesoporous Rh films for nonacidic hydrogen evolution reaction

Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) from water electrolysis in alkaline and neutral media provides a possibility to produce pure hydrogen fuel on a large scale. Therefore, the exploration of highly efficient non-Pt HER elec-trocatalysts is of great significance. Herein, polyaniline (PANI)-coated mesoporous Rh film on Ni foam is con-trollably fabricated by a micelle-assisted replacement reaction and the subsequent surface modification. Profiting from the synergetic effect of interconnected mesoporous structure, high electrical conductivity of PANI and the modified electronic structure of Rh, the synthesized mRh@PANI film exhibits superior HER electrocatalytic activity and durability in alkaline and neutral electrolytes. To reach a current density of 50 mA cm(-2), low overpotentials of 37 and 69 mV are required in 1 M KOH and 1 M PBS solutions, respectively.

Automated summary

The study successfully fabricated a highly efficient non-Pt HER electrocatalyst mRh@PANI film, which exhibited superior activity and durability, achieving low overpotentials for high current densities in alkaline and neutral electrolytes.