Morphological and structural characterisation of sol–gel electrospun Co₃O₄ nanofibres and their electro-catalytic behaviour
2015
George, Gibin | Elias, Liju | Hegde, A Chitharanjan | Anandhan, S.
Evolution of hydrogen and oxygen are a crucial part of many renewable energy systems. The replacement of the essential and expensive components in such systems can reduce the capital cost and improve the effectiveness of those systems. In this study, Co₃O₄ nanofibres were fabricated from sol–gel assisted electrospun poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile)/cobalt acetate tetrahydrate precursor composite fibres. The morphological and compositional features of the Co₃O₄ nanofibres obtained after calcination of the precursor nanofibers were studied using scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results of X-ray diffraction study and Raman spectroscopy revealed that the average grain size of the fibres increased with the calcination temperature. Clear evidence of defects in the fibres was observed in ultraviolet-visible-near infrared and energy dispersive spectroscopic measurements. The electrocatalytic behaviour of Co₃O₄ nanofibres obtained at different calcination temperatures was studied using them for the water splitting reaction in an alkaline medium. The maximum efficiency in the hydrogen evolution reaction was achieved using the Co₃O₄ nanofibres obtained at the lowest calcination temperature, which had the highest surface area and the smallest grain size.
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