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Ag2S nanoflakes decorated over rGO nanosheets: a sustainable and highly efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction

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Abstract

Energy is the basic need of world, and in this modern era to achieve global need, electrochemical water splitting knwon as process through which world can fulfill their energy requirements, but an efficient and affordable electrocatalyst is necessary for this process. Here, Ag2S/rGO nanocomposite was prepared using hydrothermal route as electrocatalyst for this (OER) process. The hydrothermal method leads to the development of nanocrystals having larger surface area and excellent morphology. The prepared nanocomposite undergoes physical and electrochemical testing. The physical characterization confirmed that Ag2S/rGO has a dynamic surface area (790.6 cm2), providing more active sites; hence, more extensive electron transformation occurs. The electrochemical testing in an alkaline medium with three electrodes was used to know about electrocatalytic action of the prepared nanocomposite. The prepared nanocrystal achieved overpotential 179.56 mV, Tafel slope (31.6 mV dec−1) and TOF (1.40 s−1) with high durability. All these finding confirmed that the fabricated Ag2S/rGO is a strong electrocatalyst for OER.

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The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. The manuscript has associated data in a data repository.

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Acknowledgements

The authors express their gratitude to Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project (Grant No. PNURSP2024R378), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Deanship of Research and Graduate Studies at King Khalid University is greatly appreciated for funding this work through Large Research Project under grant number RGP2/32/45. A.M.A. Henaish thanks the the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (Ural Federal University Program of Development within the Priority-2030 Program) is gratefully acknowledged.

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Nazim, M., Alrowaily, A.W., Alotaibi, B.M. et al. Ag2S nanoflakes decorated over rGO nanosheets: a sustainable and highly efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction. Eur. Phys. J. Plus 139, 528 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-024-05285-x

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