Facile synthesis of porous multiple hydroxyl and amine polymer@NiO composite for stable and efficient electrochemical water splitting

Developing integrated water-splitting catalysts with high efficiency and stability under various conditions is a challenging yet vital area for future advancement. Herin, a novel porous material composed of multiple hydroxy and amine-containing polymer (MHAP) is synthesized from commercially available precursors and integrated In-situ with NiO nanoparticles. Notably, the bifunctional electrocatalyst, MHAP@NiO, exhibited exceptional electrocatalytic activity in alkaline conditions, achieving low overpotentials of 260 and 170 mV at 10 mA cm⁻² with Tafel slopes of 64.5 and 44 mV dec⁻¹ for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), respectively. It also demonstrated excellent performance, with impressive mass activities of 8830 and 9760 mA g⁻¹ at an overpotential of 320 mV for OER and HER, respectively, and also durability up to 80 h for OER. This work presents a fabrication route for high-performance, eco-friendly polymer/metal oxide hybrid electrocatalysts, paving the pathway for the development of advanced materials for electrochemical energy conversion.