Galvanostatic electrodeposition of a self-supported Ni-Se-Lu/NF electrocatalyst for efficient alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction

With the aim of developing efficient non-noble metal catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), this work synthesized a Ni-Se-Lu electrocatalyst by incorporating the rare earth element Lu to modify the Ni-Se electrode. The hydrogen evolution performance of the Ni-Se-Lu electrocatalyst under alkaline conditions was investigated on the basis of the micromorphology and structure of the electrode. In 1 M KOH solution, the Ni-Se-Lu electrode exhibited small overpotentials of 52 and 105 mV at current densities of 10 and 50 mA cm-2, respectively, along with a Tafel slope of 63.8 mV & sdot;dec- 1. Electrochemical analysis results revealed increased active sites and electrochemically active surface area and improved surface roughness after the introduction of Lu element. Moreover, excellent stability in hydrogen evolution was demonstrated with a potential decay rate below 5% after 72 h of electrolysis.