Functionalization of Mn2O3/PdO/ZnO electrocatalyst using organic template with accentuated electrochemical potential toward water splitting

In a broad spectrum of renewable energy technologies, nonprecious, cheap, and robust electrocatalytic material is the fundamental element for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, designing high-efficiency catalysts to match industrial requirements remains a significant challenge. An Efficient and stable OER catalyst Mn₂O₃/PdO/ZnO] was prepared by a simple and cost-effective facile synthesis approach using metal acetates with the organic extract. The carbonaceous material help in improving the surface area and lowering the band gap energy (2.2 eV) of the Mn₂O₃/PdO/ZnO suggesting the enhanced electrochemical conductivity of synthesized nanomaterial. The catalyst was loaded on Ni-foam and has been tested for Oxyge evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in an alkaline medium. The material shows higher activity toward OER with a low overpotential and Tafel slope value of 93 mV/dec at a bias of 1.65 V to achieve a current density of 10 mA/cm². The material exhibited an overpotential of 57 mV and Tafel value of 244 mV/dec toward HER which were not much satisfactory. The material offer an overpotential value of 422 mV toward OER which remains consistent even after 2000 cycle in 1M KOH electrolyte. In addition, chronoamperometry test also revealed constant oxygen evolution over 24 hours without any loss in activity. Thus the synthesized bio-fabricated composite material is simple and scalable for widespread use in renewable energy harvesting applications.