2 research outputs found
A Flexible Electrode Based on Al-Doped Nickel Hydroxide Wrapped around a Carbon Nanotube Forest for Efficient Oxygen Evolution
The
development of highly active, cheap, and stable electrocatalysts
for overall water splitting is strategic for industrial electrolysis
processes aiming to achieve sustainable hydrogen production. Here,
we report the impressive electrocatalytic activity of the oxygen evolution
reaction of Al-doped NiÂ(OH)<sub>2</sub> deposited on a chemically
etched carbon nanotube forest (CNT-F) supported on a flexible polymer/CNT
nanocomposite. Our monolithic electrode generates a stable current
density of 10 mA/cm<sup>2</sup> at an overpotential (η) of 0.28
V toward the oxygen evolution reaction in 1 M NaOH and reaches approximately
200 mA/cm<sup>2</sup> at 1.7 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode
in 6 M KOH. The CNT-F/NiAl electrode also shows an outstanding activity
for the hydrogen evolution reaction under alkaline conditions. When
CNT-F/NiAl is used both at the anode and at the cathode, our device
can sustain the overall water splitting, reaching 10 mA/cm<sup>2</sup> at η = 1.96 V. The high electrocatalytic activity of the CNT-F/NiAl
hydroxide is due to the huge surface area of the CNT forest, the high
electrical conductivity of the nanocomposite substrate, and the interactions
between the NiAl catalyst and the CNTs
A Novel Sb<sub>2</sub>Te<sub>3</sub> Polymorph Stable at the Nanoscale
We report on the MOCVD synthesis
of Sb<sub>2</sub>Te<sub>3</sub> nanowires that self-assemble in a
novel metastable polymorph. The
nanowires crystallize in a primitive trigonal lattice (<i>P</i>3Ì…<i>m</i>1 SG #164) with lattice parameters <i>a</i> = <i>b</i> = 0.422 nm, and <i>c</i> = 1.06 nm. The stability of the polymorph has been studied by first
principle calculations: it has been demonstrated that the stabilization
is due to the particular side-wall faceting, finding excellent agreement
with the experimental observations