Enhanced electrocatalytic activity of CuO-SnO₂ nanocomposite in alkaline medium

The development of low cost, long-term stable and highly efficient electrocatalyst is one of the major current research activities towards electrochemical water oxidation process for the clean-energy hydrogen production. The transition metal oxides (CuO, TiO₂, NiO, Co₂O₃, etc.,) have been desirable for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline electrolyte. Among these transition metal oxides, the CuO based composites are most promising constituents for the water oxidation process due to their good electronic properties and the anticipated synergistic effect to alter the surface properties of the materials dramatically to favor the electrocatalysis. Here, we have reported the synthesis of CuO-SnO₂ nanoparticles network by a facile chemical method as the electrocatalyst for an efficient OER. The physiochemical properties of CuO-SnO₂ nanoparticles network electrocatalyst were characterized by using various techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies (XPS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for their structural, absorption/presence of functional groups, elemental composition and morphology, respectively. Further, the electrochemical properties of the catalysts were investigated using cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronopotentiometry and Tafel curve measurements in alkaline electrolyte. The electrocatalysts showed a low onset potential of 1.39 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) and high stability for 6 h in 1.0 M KOH electrolyte, which demonstrated their better performance than the benchmark Ni electrocatalyst.