Hydrothermal production of novel Dy2MoO6/rGO nanomaterial as potential electrocatalyst for enhanced OER application

Water electrocatalysis is excessively being investigated for energy production to address the energy issues resulting by excessive use of fossil fuels. Water electrolysis results production of oxygen and hydrogen by oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction but it needs a good catalyst. The efforts are being made to develop electrocatalysts for OER which is limiting reaction of water oxidation owing to its sluggish reaction kinetics. In our study, a novel electrocatalyst Dy₂MoO₆/rGO composite was synthesized via simple hydrothermal method for OER efficiency. Different physical tests like SEM (scanning electron microscope), XRD (X ray diffraction), FTIR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) and Raman confirmed the successful fabrication of materials. The Dy₂MoO₆/rGO showed versatile with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets resulting in increased active sites and surface availability of nanocatalyst. The Dy₂MoO₆/rGO composite showed improved OER activity than pristine materials having overpotential (ղ) and Tafel related 233 mV, 35 mV/dec while Dy₂MoO₆ has (287 mV, 50 mV/dec) and rGO has (321 mV, 70 mV/dec). The fabricated Dy₂MoO₆/rGO catalyst holds the stability over 30 h with minute decrease in current density. The exceptional physical and electrochemical features of Dy₂MoO₆/rGO make it a promising electrocatalyst for electrical and other related applications in future.