Fabrication of a porous Co0.85Se/rGO composite for efficient hydrazine oxidation

The development of efficient and earth-abundant catalysts for hydrazine oxidation (HzOR) is of great significance for direct hydrazine fuel cell. In the present study, we report Co0.85Se/rGO electrocatalyst with nanoporous structure on rGO surface via electrodeposition. In comparison with Co0.85Se and nickel foam, Co0.85Se/rGO exhibits good hydrazine oxidation performance. A large current density of 981 mA cm-2 at 0.6 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode, a low Tafel slope of 56.2 mV dec(-1), almost 100% selectivity toward the complete hydrazine oxidation, and a high retention rate of 92.5% at a large current density of 50 mA cm(-2) during 24 h measurement can be observed, which is among the best values for Co-based HzOR catalysts that recently reported. Furthermore, the enhanced electrochemical mechanism of Co0.85Se/rGO toward HzOR was investigated, mainly contributed to its well-maintained nanoporous structure, larger electrochemically active surface area, high electrical conductivity, and superaerophobic nature of nanoporous surface.

Automated summary

In this study, the Co0.85Se/rGO electrocatalyst with a nanoporous structure on rGO surface was synthesized via electrodeposition. Compared with Co0.85Se and nickel foam, Co0.85Se/rGO exhibited excellent performance for hydrazine oxidation. The enhanced electrochemical mechanism of Co0.85Se/rGO for hydrazine oxidation was mainly attributed to its well-maintained nanoporous structure, larger electrochemically active surface area, high electrical conductivity, and superaerophobic nature of nanoporous surface.