Hydrogen production via ammonia using trimetallic-doped aerogels based on Fe, Ni, Co

Abstract

This article explores the electrocatalytic response of novel iron-nickel-cobalt unsupported doped aerogels (FeNiCoA) in a microfluidic electrochemical ammonia device for hydrogen production and electrolyser cell operation. These aerogels were synthesised by the ultrafast sol-gel method assisted by microwave heating, resulting in homogeneous morphological structures. Different stoichiometries of the aerogel: raw FeNiCoA, reduced rFeNiCoA, and heteroatom-doped FeNiCoA were used as electrocatalysts for the ammonia oxidation reaction (AOR) and to produce clean hydrogen. The incorporation of carbon (C-FeNiCoA) and nitrogen (N-FeNiCoA) into the aerogel matrix played a crucial and innovative role in improving the electrocatalytic activity and promoting electron transfer. The microfluidic device using these novel aerogels exhibits high power and current densities, demonstrating its potential for high hydrogen generation (3 $·$ 10⁻⁸ mol of hydrogen in 20 s). This study shows that transition metal aerogels are a cost-effective alternative to noble metals as electrocatalysts for hydrogen production.