Département de chimie moléculaire

The design of more efficient catalytic electrodes remains an important objective for the development of H2O splitting electrolyzers. In this context a structured composite cathode material was synthesized by electrodeposition of Mo sulfide (MoSx) into a poly(pyrrole-alkylammonium) matrix, previously coated onto C electrodes by oxidative electropolymn. of a pyrrole-alkylammonium monomer. The composite material showed an efficient electrocatalytic activity toward proton redn. and the H evolution reaction (HER). Data from Tafel plots demonstrated that the electron transfer rate in the composite films is fast, in agreement with the high catalytic activity of this cathode material. Bulk electrolysis of acidic H2O at C foam electrodes modified with the composite showed that the cathodes display a high catalytic activity and a reasonable operational stability, largely exceeding that of regular amorphous MoSx electrodeposited on naked C foam. The enhanced catalytic performances of the composite electrode material were attributed to the structurization of the composite, which led to a homogeneous distribution of the catalyst on the C foam network, as shown by SEM characterizations. [on SciFinder(R)]