Synthesis and characterization of CuO-NiO nanocomposite: highly active electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction application

Design and development of highly active low-cost electrocatalyst for electrochemical water splitting is a current emergency for reducing energy demand in the future. In this study, we found a cost effective CuO-NiO nanocomposite which is prepared by a simple one-step chemical precipitation method. The crystalline structure, morphology, and constitution of elements in CuO-NiO nanocomposite were confirmed by XRD, Raman, FE-SEM, TEM, XPS, and FT-IR spectroscopy. The CuO-NiO nanocomposite exhibits lower onset potential of 1.37 V in 1 M KOH electrolyte solution by oxygen evolution reaction (OER), the finding onset potential is lower than that of bare Ni. The OER stability test of CuO-NiO nanocomposite was performed in alkaline electrolyte, and it showed more stability for 2 h.