Facile hydrothermal synthesis of urchin-like NiCo2O4 spheres as efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction

• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2013.03.092
• Publication Date: 2013-04-18T14:55:11Z
• Authors: Zhao-Qing Liu; Qi-Zhi Xu; Ji-Yu Wang; Nan Li; Shi-Heng Guo; Yu-Zhi Su; Hong-Juan Wang; Jian-Hua Zhang; Shuang Chen
• Keywords: Nanorod; Hydrothermal Synthesis; Template

Abstract In this work, we have successfully prepared urchin-like NiCo 2 O 4 spheres via a facile hydrothermal method without any templates or surfactants. The as-prepared urchin-like NiCo 2 O 4 spheres have uniform diameters of 6 μm with numerous small nanorods radially-grown from the center. Typical nanorods have diameters of 20–50 nm and lengths of 2–3 μm. Remarkably, urchin-like NiCo 2 O 4 nanostructure as an alternative non-precious metal electrocatalyst for ORR exhibits catalytic performance and excellent cycling stability in alkaline environment.