Study on the Hydrogen Evolution Performance of Ni(OH)₂/NF Nanoflowers as Efficient Electrocatalysts

Nonprecious metal catalysts have become the focus of research on hydrogen production from water electrolysis. Here, nickel-based hydroxide Ni(OH)₂/NF was prepared by a hydrothermal method, and the influences of different factors on its catalytic performance were systematically studied. The physical characterization and electrochemical performance of Ni(OH)₂/NF were tested, and the results indicated that the Ni(OH)₂/NF electrode had a nanoflower void space structure. This structure had a large number of active sites, which helped to transmit electrons and promoted the hydrogen evolution reaction. The overpotential of Ni(OH)₂/NF was 140 mV (10 mV cm⁻²), the Tafel slope was 39.4 mV dec⁻¹, the electrocatalytically active area was 33.99 cm², and the material had excellent stability for up to 12 h, which improved the hydrogen evolution performance of the Ni(OH)₂/NF electrode, which was better than that of a blank nickel foam electrode. This experiment provided an idea for synthesizing efficient and stable hydrogen evolution electrocatalysts.