Effect of substrate-induced lattice strain on the electrochemical properties of pulsed laser deposited nickel oxide thin film

•Electrocatalysts are integral in the water-splitting processes as they increase the rates of the half-cell redox reactions.•NiO, a p-type oxide with excellent electrochemical capabilities, is a great candidate for fundamental electrochemical studies.•Our results help elucidate how NiO can be used a...

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Published in:Materials science & engineering. B, Solid-state materials for advanced technology Solid-state materials for advanced technology, 2022-06, Vol.280, p.115711, Article 115711
Main Authors: Som, Jacob, Choi, Jonghyun, Zhang, Honglin, Reddy Mucha, Nikhil, Fialkova, Svitlana, Mensah-Darkwa, Kwadwo, Suntivich, Jin, Gupta, Ram K., Kumar, Dhananjay
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cyclic voltammetry
Electrochemical analysis
Energy storage
Hydrogen evolution reaction
Hydrogen evolution reactions
Lanthanum
Lattice strain
Nickel oxides
NiO thin film
Pulsed laser deposition
Pulsed lasers
Sapphire
Storage capacity
Strontium titanates
Substrates
Surface roughness
Thin films
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Summary:•Electrocatalysts are integral in the water-splitting processes as they increase the rates of the half-cell redox reactions.•NiO, a p-type oxide with excellent electrochemical capabilities, is a great candidate for fundamental electrochemical studies.•Our results help elucidate how NiO can be used as an electrode material for catalysis in water-splitting systems. The storage of renewable energy is an important step toward the global effort to combat air contamination and climate change. In this work, the influence of substrate-induced strain on the electrocatalytic properties of nickel oxide (NiO) films toward the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is studied. Using pulsed laser deposition, NiO thin films were deposited on strontium titanate, lanthanum aluminate, and sapphire substrates to examine how the substrate–film lattice mismatch influences the electrochemical properties. It was observed that the electrocatalytic activities of the NiO thin films exhibited strong sensitivity to strain; the NiO film with the smallest strain recorded the lowest overpotential for the HER. The NiO films were further explored to estimate the charge storage capacity and surface roughness. This work shows the use of simple thin-film synthesis as a way to evaluate the strain effect in electrocatalysis.
ISSN:0921-5107
1873-4944
DOI:10.1016/j.mseb.2022.115711