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Amorphous Ni-Nb-Y Alloys as Hydrogen Evolution Electrocatalysts

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Abstract

Ongoing improvements in the performance of anion exchange membranes (AEM) have renewed interest in alkaline water electrolysis for large-scale hydrogen production. New electrocatalysts are required to interface with such AEM water electrolyzers. Ni-Nb-Y amorphous and amorphous-nanocrystalline alloys were prepared by cryomilling and evaluated as electrocatalysts towards the hydrogen evolution reaction. The roles of microstructure and chemistry on catalytic activity were investigated. Characterization by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy identified Ni5Y nanocrystals finely dispersed in an amorphous Ni-Nb-Y matrix among the multiphase alloys. Capacitance measurements near open-circuit potential were used to estimate the electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) in order to elucidate the activity of various catalyst morphologies on an intrinsic basis. Enhanced intrinsic activity from these multiphase structures were found in kinetic data from Tafel and impedance spectroscopic measurements. A multiphase Ni81.3Nb6.3Y12.5 catalyst displayed the greatest catalytic activity attributed to the presence of a nanocrystalline Ni5Y secondary phase finely dispersed in the Ni-Nb-Y amorphous matrix with increased yttrium content. These preliminary results demonstrate that ball milled Ni-based amorphous-based materials are promising catalysts for electrochemical hydrogen production.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the University of Toronto, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, as well as the Surface Engineering and Electrochemistry (SEE) Research Group. They also acknowledge the assistance from Prof. T. Bender in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry at the University of Toronto for the use of their laboratory equipment. The authors acknowledge the integral structural characterization work by Dr. S. Prabhudev (Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy) and Dr. G. Botton (Canada Research Chair in Electron Microscopy of Nanoscale Materials, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, McMaster University). The TEM research described in this paper was performed at the Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy at McMaster University, which is supported by NSERC and other government agencies.

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC Discovery Frontiers Grant) through the Engineered Nickel Catalysts for Electrochemical Clean Energy project administered from Queen’s University and supported by Grant No. RGPNM 477963-2015.

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  1. Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3E4, Canada

    S. Ghobrial & S. J. Thorpe

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3E5, Canada

    D. W. Kirk

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  1. S. Ghobrial
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Ghobrial, S., Kirk, D.W. & Thorpe, S.J. Amorphous Ni-Nb-Y Alloys as Hydrogen Evolution Electrocatalysts. Electrocatalysis 10, 243–252 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12678-019-00519-4

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