CHEMISTRY AND MATERIAL SCIENCE

MXene based electrocatalysts for efficient water splitting

J. Mamanazirov^ab, Sh. I. Mamatkulov^ac, M. Jumayeva^a, Kh. Butanov^a, W. He^d, J. Low^e, O. Parpiev^a, O. Ruzimuradov<sup>f

a</sup> Institute of Materials Science, Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
^b National Research Institute of Renewable Energy Sources, Ministry of Energy, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
^c Institute of Fundamental and Applied Research under TIIAME National Research University, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
^d School of Materials Science and Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei, China
^e School of Physical Science and Technology, Tiangong University, Tianjin, China
^f Turin Polytechnic University in Tashkent, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Abstract: In this study, we modified Ni based electrodes with MXene and MXene-based composite catalysts for water splitting. The MXene based catalyst exhibited excellent electrochemical surface area (ECSA) of 1840 cm$^2$, highlighting its abundant active sites. To further enhance catalytic activity, MXene was modified with graphene oxide (GO) and carbon black (CB), which significantly reduced the overpotential from 300 mV to 196 mV at 10 mA cm$^{-2}$ and improved the reaction kinetics, as evidenced by a low Tafel slope of 96.35 mV dec$^{-1}$. Moreover, the MXene–GO–CB composite demonstrated outstanding long-term durability, maintaining stable operation for 50 h at 100 mA cm$^{-2}$ with only a 34 mV increase in overpotential at 10 mA cm$^{-2}$. These results confirm that the synergistic combination of MXene with GO and CB yields a highly active and durable electrocatalyst, offering strong potential for practical water electrolysis applications.

Keywords: MXene based composites, HER, OER, electrocatalysts.

Received: 29.07.2025
Revised: 27.09.2025
Accepted: 04.12.2025

Language: English

DOI: 10.17586/2220-8054-2025-16-6-887-896