Speaker
Description
Klaudia Zielinkiewicz*a, b, Ewa Mijowskaa, b
a West Pomeranian University of Technology, Szczecin Faculty of Chemical Technology and Engineering, Department of Nanomaterials Physicochemistry, Piastow Ave. 45, 70-310 Szczecin, Poland
b Centre for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Process Engineering (CAMMPE), West Pomeranian University of Technology, 70-310 Szczecin, Poland
*klaudia.zielinkiewicz@zut.edu.pl
In this study, pristine single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and SWCNTs functionalized with NiO compounds via an exohedral route were investigated as electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Microscopic analysis revealed bundles of pristine SWCNTs decorated with NiO nanoparticles. Linear sweep voltammetry showed that SWCNTs_NiO and SWCNTs_pristine exhibited lower overpotentials (325 and 373 mV, respectively) compared to commercial RuO2 (376 mV). Chronopotentiometry was used to study the relationship between overpotential and current density over time, allowing determination of Tafel slopes. SWCNTs_NiO showed the lowest Tafel slope (117 mV/dec), indicating enhanced kinetics. Extended stability tests revealed excellent long-term performance: SWCNTs_pristine showed negligible potential increase at 10 and 20 mA/cm² and only 5.3% at 50 mA/cm², while SWCNTs_NiO also outperformed RuO2. These results demonstrate that SWCNTs are efficient hosts for electroactive species, improving both conductivity and stability.
This research has received funding from the National Science Centre (Poland) with grant PRELUDIUM23 (PRELUDE23) number 2024/53/N/ST11/01328
