Abstract:
For future energy uses and transportation, the electrochemical splitting of water
utilizing renewable energy is being explored as a sustainable and environmental
friendly source of hydrogen fuel. Even so, the mass production through water splitting
is restricted due to lower stability of the electrode materials, the successful
development of the HER phase in acidic conditions, along with the sluggish kinetics
and higher values of overpotential of the complicated OER process involving four
electron transfers. These factors combine to make the process difficult. As a result,
one of the primary goals of the ongoing study is to develop an efficient bi - functional
electrocatalyst that can minimize the overpotential for both OER and HER.
The development of highly effective bi - functional electrocatalysts for use in water
splitting reactions had been the main focus of this research. The primary emphasis has
been done on the preparation of perovskite materials and its hybrids with other active
materials. They have a tune able electronic structure due to the compositional and
crystalline malleability of perovskite oxides. Herein, LSTN perovskite has been
synthesized initially followed by its exsolution in a reduced environment. The hybrid
of LSTN has been made with a g-C3N4, to develop LSTN@g-C3N4 coated on very
conductive nickel foam. Currently, research has been driven towards double
perovskite due to the stable nature of non-stoichiometric perovskite that has an
immense influence on transition metal 3d ϭ*- antibonding (eg) orbital electron filling.
Moreover, the catalysts have been characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier
transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, energy dispersive x-ray
spectroscopy (EDX), and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results of these
characterization represents that catalysts have been prepared successfully. The
bifunctional activity of catalysts has been tested by calculating Tafel slope,
overpotential, and mass activity. Among the prepared hybrids, 3 wt. % LSTN@gC3N4, has shown the most proficient results with high stability and low resistance
value.
