Electrodeposited Nickel Telluride Nanoparticles as an Efficient Bifunctional Electrocatalyst for Sea Water Splitting

Abstract

In this study, Ni3Te2 nanoparticles were synthesized via electrodeposition onto a gold-coated glass substrate to be employed as the electrocatalyst for seawater splitting. The as-deposited Ni3Te2 achieved a current density of 20 mA/cm2 for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at an overpotential of 283 mV in alkaline electrolyte containing Na+, Cl-, K+, Mg2+, and SO42- ions, which effectively imitates unfiltered seawater. This catalyst also demonstrated exceptional stability as exhibited by long-term operation which showed no degradation in composition or catalytic activity. Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations revealed that the hydroxyl adsorption energy on Ni atoms at the surface of Ni3Te2 was more favorable than chloride adsorption, explaining the enhanced catalytic performance of this catalyst towards OER even in presence of high Cl- concentration. The gas chromatograph results also confirmed that no Cl2 gas was evolved through chlorine evolution reaction (CER) on Ni3Te2 in artificial seawater, and only produced oxygen. Ni3Te2 also showed efficient catalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) exhibiting a small overpotential of 351 mV at 20 mA cm-2, and superior catalyst durability for a 24-hour period of continuous operation. Hence, Ni3Te2 exhibits remarkable performance as a bifunctional catalyst for full seawater splitting. The long-term OER and HER stability of Ni3Te2 in seawater, confirmed by chronoamperometry results, was further validated by XPS, XRD and SEM experiments, confirming that the electrocatalyst surface did not undergo significant deterioration, or compositional change. Nickel telluride was hence identified as an ideal electrocatalyst to promote OER, HER through seawater electrolysis with low overpotential and high stability while suppressing generation of toxic chlorine gas.

Department(s)

Chemistry

Comments

National Science Foundation, Grant CHE-2155175

Keywords and Phrases

Bi-functional Electrocatalyst; Hydrogen Evolution Reaction; Non-precious metal based electrocatalyst; Oxygen evolution reaction; Seawater splitting

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

2213-3437

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2025 Elsevier, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jun 2025

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