ACS Applied Energy Materials· 2026Q1
Mechanochemical Activation of Nickel Oxide: A Pivotal Step in the Process Chain Enabling Binder-Free Anodes for Alkaline Water Electrolysis
- 2citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
Mechanochemical activation of nickel oxide (NiO) via planetary ball milling (PBM) creates binder-free anodes for alkaline water electrolysis with lower OER overpotentials (365 mV vs. 377 mV at 100 mA cm–2 for bare Ni) and improved particle cohesion.
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Key points
- Mechanochemical activation of NiO via planetary ball milling (PBM) improves anode performance for alkaline water electrolysis.
- PBM increases NiO's specific surface area, Ni3+ content, and surface hydroxyl groups.
- Mechanochemically activated NiO anodes showed a lower OER overpotential (365 mV vs. 377 mV at 100 mA cm–2) and better particle cohesion than bare Ni.
- Stirred media milling enabled concurrent activation and ink formulation, yielding anodes with an overpotential of 343 mV and enhanced mechanical robustness.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Abstract Sustainable hydrogen production via alkaline water electrolysis demands robust electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) that combine performance with scalability. We address this by mechanochemical activation of nickel oxide (NiO) to fabricate binder-free anodes. First, we investigated the effects of planetary ball milling (PBM), which decreased crystallite size, increased specific surface area, elevated Ni3+ content, and enhanced the amount of surface hydroxyl groups. PBM with larger beads induced more pronounced structural transformations due to higher impact forces. Mechanochemically activated NiO showed a lower overpotential than bare nickel (365 vs. 377 mV at 100 mA cm–2 in 1 M KOH) with excellent particle cohesion, enabling mechanically stable, binder-free anodes. We translated this approach to continuously operable stirred media milling, enabling mechanochemical activation and concurrent ink formulation in isopropanol, eliminating intermediate powder drying as needed in the case of PBM. The resulting anodes exhibited an even lower overpotential (343 mV) and higher mechanical robustness, offering a binder-free pathway for OER electrode fabrication.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. ACS Applied Energy Materials, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: Materials Chemistry
Materials ChemistryMaterials Science