Fabrication of a porous Co0.85Se/rGO composite for efficient hydrazine oxidation

Abstract

The development of efficient and earth-abundant catalysts for hydrazine oxidation (HzOR) is of great significance for direct hydrazine fuel cell. In the present study, we report Co_0.85Se/rGO electrocatalyst with nanoporous structure on rGO surface via electrodeposition. In comparison with Co_0.85Se and nickel foam, Co_0.85Se/rGO exhibits good hydrazine oxidation performance. A large current density of 981 mA cm⁻² at 0.6 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode, a low Tafel slope of 56.2 mV dec⁻¹, almost 100% selectivity toward the complete hydrazine oxidation, and a high retention rate of 92.5% at a large current density of 50 mA cm⁻² during 24 h measurement can be observed, which is among the best values for Co-based HzOR catalysts that recently reported. Furthermore, the enhanced electrochemical mechanism of Co_0.85Se/rGO toward HzOR was investigated, mainly contributed to its well-maintained nanoporous structure, larger electrochemically active surface area, high electrical conductivity, and superaerophobic nature of nanoporous surface.