Energy-efficient hydrogen generation using multiferroic TbCrO₃ nanoparticles via electrocatalysis coupled with hydrazine oxidation and photocatalysis

Multiferroic TbCrO₃ nanoparticles were synthesized using solvothermal approach for photocatalytic and electrocatalytic hydrogen generation. As-synthesized TbCrO₃ nanoparticles depicted high surface area of 131 m²/g and room temperature non-ideal ferroelectricity. Sophisticated techniques such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy establish chemical purity of TbCrO₃ nanoparticles. TbCrO₃ NPs showed high photocatalytic H₂ evolution of 10 mmol h⁻¹ g⁻¹ which was due to high specific surface area, and ferroelectric charge separation phenomena. In electrocatalytic seawater splitting where OER is replaced by hydrazine oxidation, TbCrO₃ nanoparticles showed improved overpotential (η₁₀) in HzOR∼0.20 V than OER∼0.22 V vs. RHE. Furthermore, hydrogen evolution reaction and in simulated water was analyzed that showed generation of significant catalytic current density. The as-synthesized multiferroic TbCrO₃ nanoparticles showed multifunctional applications in both photocatalytic and electrocatalytic activity. The high electrocatalytic and photocatalytic activity is attributed to inherent ferroelectric behavior of TbCrO₃ nanoparticles as confirmed by ferroelectric studies.