Fabrication of Hybrid Catalyst ZnO Nanorod/alpha-Fe2O3 Composites for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

This report presents the synthesis of ZnO nanorod/alpha-Fe2O3 composites by the hydrothermal method with different weight percentages of alpha-Fe2O3 nanoparticles. The as-synthesized nanorod composites were characterized by different techniques, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). From our results, it was found that the ZnO/alpha-Fe2O3 (3 wt%) nanorod composites exhibit a higher hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity when compared to other composites. The synergetic effect between ZnO and (3 wt%) of alpha-Fe2O3 nanocomposites resulted in a low onset potential of -125 mV, which can effectively produce more H-2 than pure ZnO. The H-2 production rate over the composite of ZnO/alpha-Fe2O3 (3 wt%) clearly shows a significant improvement in the photocatalytic activity in the heterojunction of the ZnO nanorods and alpha-Fe2O3 nanoparticles on nickel foam.