Pulse-reverse electrodeposited reduced graphene oxide electrode decorated by Ni-P porous nano-layer as a high performance electrocatalyst for H2 production assisted by hydrazine electrooxidation

Replacing the sluggish oxidation reaction in water-splitting process with the relatively fast anodic reaction is an effective method for producing H2. Here, we designed an amorphous Ni-P/rGO/NF nano-microporous catalyst for fast and easy hydrogen production from water splitting assisted by hydrazine electrooxidation reaction (HzOR). Cathodic cyclic voltammetry electrodeposition of Ni-P on rGO/NF electrode results in a nano-micro porous structure with superior conductivity besides excellent stability and catalytic activity toward both HzOR and HER. The electrode due to the specific structure and surface morphology, shows excellent electrocatalytic activity achieves 10 and 100 mA cm−2 at − 117, and − 82 mV for HER and 127 and 7.34 mV for HzOR, respectively. Furthermore, the optimized electrode demonstrated high retention rates of 97.4%, and 94.8% towards HER and HzOR, respectively. In a two-electrode cell, a small cell voltage of 241 mV is required to touch a current density of 100 mA cm−2.