Abstract:
The preparation of efficient catalysts in hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is an urgent task at present. In this work, Ni(OH)
2/Ni/g-C
3N
4 composite catalyst was prepared through liquid phase impregnation with
in-situ reduction, which was used to compose the cathode with carbon paper (CP) for the microbial electrolysis cell (MEC). With the help of SEM, TEM, XRD, XPS and electrochemical analysis techniques, the structure, properties and electrocatalytic performance in hydrogen evolution of the Ni(OH)
2/Ni/g-C
3N
4 composite were investigated. The results indicate that the Ni(OH)
2/Ni/g-C
3N
4 catalyst exhibits excellent electrochemical activity for hydrogen evolution in the MEC. Using the Ni(OH)
2/Ni/g-C
3N
4 catalyst, the current density reaches 100 A/cm
2 at a small overpotential of 1881 mV, with a low charge transfer resistance of 10.86 Ω and a low Tafel slope of 44.3 mV/dec, which is much superior to pure g-C
3N
4 catalyst and CP, and even comparable to the Pt catalyst, suggesting that the Ni(OH)
2/Ni/g-C
3N
4 composite can be a potential candidate of HER catalyst in MEC.