The search for novel efficient catalysts for fuel cells is industrially vital. This work aims to form efficient nanostructured catalysts by electroplating 3D metallic copper-nickel (Cu-Ni) foams with the further decoration of them with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) for the electrooxidation for sodium borohydride (NaBH4). Cu-Ni foams have been electroplated on the titanium (Ti) surface electrolytes contained 0.5 M Ni2+ ions and Cu2+ ions concentrations in the range from 0.01 to 0.02 M. AuNPs have been deposited on the Cu-Ni/Ti electrodes by their immersion into a 1 mM HAuCl4 solution at 25 °C for 1 min. The morphology and composition of synthesized catalysts were examined using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES).
It was found that the prepared 3D metallic Cu-Ni foams and those decorated with AuNPs show good electrochemical stability in an alkaline NaBH4 solution for a long time in a potential range from -1.2 to 0.6 V at an electrode potential scan rate of 10 mV s-1. Moreover, decoration of Cu-Ni foams with AuNPs results in enhancement of electrocatalytic activity for the electrooxidation of NaBH4 as compared with that at pure Cu-Ni foams.