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Photo-electrochemical hydrogen evolution over FTO/Ni0.98Si0.02O2-Ni electrode induced by visible and UV light irradiation

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Abstract

Photo-electrochemical properties of fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO)/nickel oxide-nickel (Ni0.98Si0.02O2-Ni) with isolated Si sites are discussed. The Ni0.98Si0.02O2-Ni photo-electrocatalyst without any noble metal was prepared using a one-step chemical reduction precipitation method. Photo-electrochemical properties were investigated by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry techniques in aqueous alkaline solution at pH 8.0. The photo-electrochemical response of the catalyst showed sensitivity to visible and UV light. The catalyst produced hydrogen from water at a rate of 0.5 mmol g−1 h−1 with the reduction of CO2 into CO under visible light in the absence of any light sensitizer or a noble metal. The metallic Ni amount in the catalyst system was optimized to obtain the best photo-electrocatalyst. The first principle DFT study showed that the incorporation of Si sites allowed absorbance of visible light. The catalyst was characterized by powder x-ray diffraction (PXRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), inductively coupled plasma- atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), cyclic voltammetry, and chronoamperometry. The products were analyzed by gas chromatography- thermal conductivity detector (GC-TCD).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Conversions and Catalysis Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP), Mohkampur, Dehradun, 248005, India

    Rajkumar Yadav, Hari Singh, Sandhya Saini, Bijoy Biswas, Avnish Kumar & Anil Kumar Sinha

  2. Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), New Delhi, India

    Rajkumar Yadav, Hari Singh, Sandhya Saini, Bijoy Biswas, Avnish Kumar & Anil Kumar Sinha

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  1. Rajkumar Yadav
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  2. Hari Singh
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Correspondence to Anil Kumar Sinha.

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Yadav, R., Singh, H., Saini, S. et al. Photo-electrochemical hydrogen evolution over FTO/Ni0.98Si0.02O2-Ni electrode induced by visible and UV light irradiation. J Appl Electrochem 49, 991–1002 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-019-01340-z

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