Flower-like nickel-cobalt aluminum composite prepared by hydrothermal method and its application as electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction

As we know, the benchmark electrocatalysts for OER in alkaline solution are RuO2 and IrO2; however, the high cost, scarcity and instability of these metal oxides prevent their full utilization in OER processes. In consequence, developing non-noble-metal electrocatalysts with low-cost and earth-abundant for efficient and durable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is highly desirable for sustainable energy development in the future. In this paper, the flower-like nickel-cobalt aluminum alloy was synthesized by hydrothermal method using aluminum foam as base material and mixed with cobalt and nickel salts. At the same time, XRD, XPS, SEM, TEM and electrochemical tests were studied in this paper. Specifically, in 1 M KOH, we found that Ni-S-CoAl-4:1(Co/Ni=4:1) has the best OER performance, this electrode requires a low overpotential of 285 mV at 50 mA cm(-2) and a small Tafel slope of 60 mV dec(-1). This work provides a promising OER catalyst materials with high efficiency and low cost for large-scale electrochemical applications.