Mild formation of Ni(OH)2 dense nanosheets array for ultra-efficient electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Synthesizing high performance and affordable nickel-based electrocatalysts has been one of the research hotspots in the field of clean energy conversion. Herein, facile electroless plating accompanied with mild impregnation method is explored to synthesize petal-like Ni(OH) 2 flakes on carbon cloth (CC) for electrocatalytic alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Notably, the optimal Ni(OH) 2 /CC electrode has outstanding HER activity requiring only 24.6 mV vs . RHE of overpotential to reach 25 mA cm −2 of current density, and only 101.5 mV vs . RHE of overpotential to reach 100 mA cm −2 . Meanwhile, the 25-h stability test results performed well. This is primarily due to its plentiful interfacial contact, favorable surface morphology of ultrathin and dense nanosheets array, and rapid electron transport . Overall, this study provides a viable approach for the development of efficient, low-cost, hydrophilic nickel-based catalysts for electrocatalytic water splitting applications.