Development of CuSe/polypyrrole electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction

Electrochemical water splitting stands as a promising method for harnessing energy from renewable sources. However, substantial overpotential required for sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER) hampers its widespread adoption. In this study, a CuSe@PPy hybrid is being created by hydrothermally layering polypyrrole on top of CuSe. This hybrid electrocatalyst outperforms both pure CuSe and PPy in terms of OER efficiency. Structural and morphological analyses, including powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), confirm that the synthesized CuSe@PPy composite exhibits high crystallinity, nanostructured granular morphology, and a hexagonal structure with a large surface area. Evaluation of its electrocatalytic performance for water oxidation in a 1 M KOH alkaline medium reveals CuSe@PPy hybrid's exceptional durability, achieving 35 mA cm−2 for 100 h. This durability is attributed to PPy coating on its surface, which facilitates efficient electron conduction. Coupling of PPy with CuSe leads to reduced overpotential (248 mV), a lower Tafel slope (30 mV/dec), and decreased charge transfer resistance (2.16 Ω), enhancing OER efficiency. By modifying surface of CuSe with a conducting polymer like PPy, this study underscores potential for improving performance in various applications, including photoelectron-catalytic research and stabilizing material activity.