Fabrication and characterization of spinel Ni0.5Cu0.5Co2O4 nanoparticles as bi-functional catalysts for oxygen reduction and evolution reaction
Developing efficient and low-cost bi-functional electrolytes for energy applications such as fuel cells and rechargeable metal-air batteries is highly desirable. Here, we have synthesized spinel Ni[Formula: see text]Cu[Formula: see text]Co2O4 (NCC) nanoparticles as nonprecious bi-functional electrocatalysts by a simple hydrothermal reaction method. The phase structure and the morphology of NCC nanoparticles have been investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) while the electrocatalytic activity of the samples has been studied in alkaline solution by using rotating disk electrode technique. The electrocatalysts have showed a comparable ORR and OER catalytic activities compared with of those of the other transition metal oxides, suggesting the feasibility of the NCC as the bi-functional electrolytes materials for ORR and OER.