Cu2O/Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanocomposites for Electrocatalytic Overall Water Splitting

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Hierarchical Cu 2 O/RGO nanocomposites were synthesized via a sustainable photoredox strategy and utilized as bifunctional electrocatalysts for oxygen and hydrogen evolution reactions (OER and HER) under alkaline conditions. The photoredox Cu 2 O/RGO electrocatalyst has potential for bifunctional electrocatalytic applications, owing to their small overpotentials (OER: 215 mV and HER: 142 mV), fast kinetics, Tafel slope of 58.2 mV dec –1, high mass performance (613.49 A g –1 ), high exchange current density (10.9 mA cm –2 ), long-term stability, and maximum Faradaic efficiency of 97% compared with hierarchical Cu 2 O, in situ synthesized Cu 2 O/RGO-1 catalyst, and most electrocatalysts reported thus far. The Cu 2 O/RGO-2 (+) ∥ Cu 2 O/RGO-2 (−) cell exhibits excellent durability for overall water splitting compared to the existing benchmark [email protected] (+) ∥ IrO 2 (−) cell. This study presents a sustainable approach toward hydrogen fuel generation via overall water splitting and other catalytic and electrocatalytic applications.