A Low-Cost Ni–Mo Electrocatalyst for Highly Efficient Hydrogen and Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Electrocatalytic water splitting provides an effective way to store electrical energy (i.e., solar and wind energy) intermittently. It is believed that developing electrocatalysts with excellent stability, high catalytic efficiency, and abundant natural reserves is the key to the industrialization of electrochemical water splitting. Herein, nickel–molybdenum electrocatalyst formed on the surface of a low-cost etched stainless-steel mesh via a one-step electrodeposition method exhibits a low hydrogen evolution overpotential of 53 mV and oxygen evolution overpotential of 261 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm −2 due to the synergistic effect of nickel and molybdenum. Moreover, the as-prepared catalyst demonstrates superior hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalytic performance than commercial Pt/C at current density exceed 200 mA cm −2 . The electrocatalyst also shows excellent HER and oxygen evolution reaction stabilities at high current density attribute to the tightly bond between electrocatalyst and the etched stainless-steel mesh, as well as the surface reconstruction of catalyst during the cycle test. The facile electrodeposition method has lower requirements on production equipment, using stainless steel mesh as the basement reduces the production cost, the nickel–molybdenum alloy possesses excellent electrolytic water splitting performance and stability. These results indicate that this work can provide an idea for the industrialization of electrochemical water splitting.