Method of manufacturing electrocatalyst through one step electrodeposition and electrocatalyst manufactured therefrom

Abstract

Disclosed is a method of manufacturing an electrocatalyst. The method may include forming a metal layer on a substrate, treating a substrate of the metal layer, and forming a catalyst layer on the metal layer by applying potential to an aqueous deposition solution including a nickel precursor, a copper precursor, a phosphorus precursor, and an additive, in which a molar ratio of the nickel precursor to the copper precursor may be greater than about 49:1. Accordingly, the present invention has an advantage in that the process of manufacturing the electrocatalyst may be simplified.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of manufacturing an electrocatalyst, comprising:
 forming a metal layer on a substrate;   treating a surface of the metal layer; and   forming a catalyst layer on the surface-treated metal layer by applying potential to an aqueous deposition solution comprising a nickel precursor, a copper precursor, a phosphorus precursor, and an additive,   wherein a molar ratio of the nickel precursor to the copper precursor is greater than about 49:1.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the metal layer comprises a nickel layer or a copper layer. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the treating the surface comprises treating the surface using a UV-ozone cleaning treatment. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the potential is applied by a cyclic voltammetry method. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein a range of the potential is of about −1.2 to 0.2 V. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein a frequency at which the range of the potential is applied is of about 3 to 15 times. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a molar concentration of the nickel precursor is of about 0.02 to 0.5 M. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the nickel precursor comprises one or more of nickel sulfate, nickel nitrate, and nickel acetate. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a molar concentration of the copper precursor is of about 0.001 to 0.02 M. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the copper precursor comprises one or more of copper sulfate, copper nitrate, copper acetate, and copper acetylacetonate. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the additive comprises sodium acetate, and further comprises glycine or citric acid. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein a molar ratio of the nickel precursor to sodium acetate, glycine, or citric acid is about 1:about 0.5 or greater and about 1:less than about 2. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein a molar concentration of each of sodium acetate, glycine, and citric acid is of about 0.05 or greater and less than about 0.2 M. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a molar ratio of the nickel precursor to the phosphorus precursor is of about 1:5 to 1:20. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a molar concentration of the phosphorus precursor is of about 0.1 to 1.25 M. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the phosphorus precursor comprises sodium hypophosphite. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the substrate is pretreated using an oxygen plasma etching process. 
     
     
         18 . An electrocatalyst comprising an oxygen generation electrode and a hydrogen generation electrode,
 wherein at least one of the electrodes comprises a substrate and a catalyst layer electrodeposited onto the substrate, and the catalyst layer comprises greater than about 65 at % of nickel; and less than about 35 at % of copper, based on 100 at % of metal atoms.   
     
     
         19 . The electrocatalyst of  claim 18 , further comprising a metal layer between the substrate and the catalyst layer. 
     
     
         20 . The electrocatalyst of  claim 19 , wherein the metal layer comprises a nickel layer or a copper layer. 
     
     
         21 . A vehicle part comprising an electrocatalyst of  claim 19 .