NiRu0.3Se Nanoparticles In Situ Grown on Reduced Graphene: Synthesis and Electrocatalytic Activity in the Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Nanoscale transition metal selenides have been tagged as promising electrocatalytic materials for efficient energy conversion. Herein, we report the facile hydrothermal synthesis of NiRu_0.3Se nanoparticles, in situ grown on reduced graphene oxide, for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in water splitting. The crystal phase, morphology and elemental composition of NiRu_0.3Se/rGO is well characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The composite exhibited hexagonal and cubic phase structure corresponding to NiSe and RuSe₂, having irregular morphology. NiRu_0.3Se/rGO exhibited superior OER performance than NiSe/rGO requiring an overpotential of 290 mV to generate a benchmarked current density of 10 mA cm⁻² in 0.1 M KOH. A small tafel slope of 98 mV dec⁻¹ and long-term stability endorses the potential of NiRu_0.3Se/rGO as an efficient OER electrocatalyst.