Platinum-Free Electrocatalysts Based on Electrodeposited Co–Mn–Ni Alloys for Efficient Electrocatalytic Alkaline Water Splitting

The development of a Pt-free electrocatalyst for efficient and stable water splitting is crucial for the commercialization of green hydrogen production. A low-cost electrocatalyst with good hydrogen and oxygen evolution activities (HER and OER, respectively) displaying long durability is the first step in this direction, and if the catalyst can be synthesized via an easy, convenient, and scalable procedure, that would be an added advantage. Multicomponent alloys, with their tunable compositions and abundant active sites, present a promising solution in this direction. Herein, a cost-effective CoMnNi (CMN) alloy is synthesized via electrodeposition and with optimized composition by tuning the electrolyte concentration and deposition potential to enhance electrocatalytic performance. The resulting single-phase alloy exhibits a high electrochemical surface area with an average particle size of ∼4 nm, demonstrating excellent hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activities in 1 M KOH, with overpotentials of 121 mV at −10 mA cm–2 and 285 mV at 20 mA cm–2, respectively. Moreover, the catalyst exhibits remarkable stability, sustaining 100 h of operation at 100 mA cm–2. The CMN alloy also performs efficiently under harsh conditions, including 6 M KOH and alkaline seawater, in both symmetric and asymmetric cell configurations. This work highlights the potential of multicomponent alloys as durable, high-performance electrocatalysts for scalable water splitting, paving the way for sustainable hydrogen production.