The Effect of Ru/PMC Hydrogel Composite for Water-Splitting Applications

Abstract

Herein, poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) and PMAA-g-carbon nanotube (CNT) (PMC) hydrogel composites were prepared using the redox polymerization method. PMAA and PMC hydrogel composites were coated with the Ru metal electrochemical deposition method to be used as electrocatalysts in water-splitting applications. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX) and mapping, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques were used to characterize the hydrogel composites. The electrochemical properties of these hydrogel composites were examined using techniques including linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), chronoamperometry (CA), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements. The activities of hydrogel composites against both oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) were examined for water-splitting applications. The electrochemical results indicated that the Ru/PMC hydrogel composite exhibited high catalytic activity for both OER and HER in alkaline media.