Sputtering method was used to prepare Ni-Mo alloy electrodes for hydrogen production in alkaline solution. The influences of the working pressure during deposition and the substrate temperature on the electrochemical behavior of electrode were characterized by steady-state polarization plot and Tafel polarization curve measurements. And the physical properties of electrodes were characterized by XRD, SEM, AFM and EDS. It is found that the overpotential is significantly influenced by the working pressure which affects critically the electrode surface morphology, and two Tafel regions are observed for each sample. The overpotential value does not change very much with the substrate temperature. The XRD results indicates that the electrodes should be considered nanocrystalline. Thornton model for the microstructure of sputter-deposited electrodes is referred to explain the observed microstructure change.
The iron-doped nickel oxide films used as oxygen evolution catalysts in the photoelectrochemical production of hydrogen from solar energy were deposited by means of RF reactive magnetron sputtering from a Ni-Fe alloy target in oxygen and argon atmosphere.The effects of processing parameters on the film properties,such as overpotential,composition,surface morphology and preferred orientation,were investigated.The electrochemical experiment,structural and compositional measurements indicate that the relative lower substrate temperature,higher RF power,higher working pressure and oxygen content are necessary to gain lower overpotential.The lowest overpotential of 251 mV is obtained at a current density of 80 mA/cm2.The existence of iron,which acts as activity site,and Ni3+ ion is responsible for lowering overpotential.By analyzing SEM and XRD data,it is also noticed that an improvement in crystallinity,appropriate grain size and less crystalline phase contribute to an increased electrocatalytic activity in oxygen evolution reaction.These results mentioned above indicate that iron-doped nickel oxide is promising as an oxygen catalyst.
