Neodymium oxide doped neodymium phosphate as efficient electrocatalyst towards hydrogen evolution reaction in acidic medium

The development of an inexpensive, more stable and efficient electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction in water splitting has become more challenging task for researchers in present scenario. In the present study, different morphologies of two rare earth based nanomaterials Gd2O3:GdPO4 and Nd2O3:NdPO4 were successfully made via simple one-step hydrothermal method and used as catalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction in acidic medium (0.5 M H2SO4). The Nd2O3:NdPO4 exhibited comparable catalytic activity with standard Pt/C electrode material in 0.5 M H2SO4. The obtained overpotential to achieve current density of 10 mA cm−2 for Nd2O3:NdPO4 and standard Pt/C was 134 and 123.5 mV vs. RHE, respectively and their corresponding Tafel slopes were 55.6 and 52.5 mV.decade−1, respectively. The efficient catalytic activity of the prepared catalyst was due to its unique surface morphology and strong interaction between the present elements. The turnover frequency was found as 0.00008637 and 0.00171 s−1 for Gd2O3:GdPO4 and Nd2O3:NdPO4 nanomaterials, respectively and their corresponding BET surface area were 14.9663 and 78.2404 m2 g−1. Based on literature reports and best of our knowledge, Nd2O3:NdPO4 is an efficient novel catalyst and its electrocatalytic activity is not reported till date.