INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH, vol.44, no.14, pp.11756-11771, 2020 (SCI-Expanded)
In present study, zinc oxide/zinc sulfide (ZnO/ZnS) nanostructures were fabricated by anodization of Zn. The morphological, structural and compositional properties of ZnO/ZnS were studied by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). From FESEM results, well-defined and smooth spherical-like ZnO/ZnS nanostructures were obtained with tube-like ZnO nanostructures underneath the compact layer. XRD patterns revealed that achieved materials offer high crystallinity hexagonal ZnO as dominant with hexagonal close-packed polycrystalline Zn. Moreover, measure of water contact angle was realized to learn about wetting property of the electrodes. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was recorded to examine electrocatalytic performance of electrodes against hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in 1 M KOH solution. The values of energy consumption and energy efficiency were calculated as 571.9 kJ mol(-1)and 49.5% at current density of 50 mA cm(-2)for the HER on 40-ZnO/ZnS/Zn electrode at 25 degrees C.