Low-cost and efficient electro-catalysts can play a key role in electro-catalytic water oxidation reaction. Hereinto, highly stable semiconducting nickel oxide (NiO) nanoparticles were synthesized by a facile, biomimetic and cost effective one pot synthesis route. Nickel (II) acetate tetrahydrate was used as a precursor and medicinal plant Olea ferruginea Royle as a reducing agent. The biosynthesized NiO NPs were scrutinized by UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy UV Vis.), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), gas chromatography mass spectroscopy (GC–MS), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The average particle size of the NiO NPs was 13 ± 1 nm which was calculated by Scherrer equation, with uniform cubic shape. NiO supported on Ni-foam was investigated as an electro-catalyst for water splitting application. The results revealed an over potential of 0.41 V and Tafel slope of 97 mVdec⁻¹ at 10 mA/cm² which is comparable to benchmark catalysts. These results suggests that the organic framework derived NiO could be a competitor to the chemically synthesized electrode material that comprises of costly reagents and require advanced synthesis approaches. Thus, in present study we believe that bio-assisted NiO is an efficient electrode material for water splitting studies and could be a sustainable step towards the replacement of noble metal-based electro-catalysts for energy conversion.

低成本高效的电催化剂可在电催化水氧化反应中发挥关键作用。本文通过一种简便，仿生且经济有效的一锅合成路线合成了高稳定性的半导体氧化镍（NiO）纳米粒子。醋酸镍（II）四水合物用作前体和药用植物Olea ferruginea罗伊尔作为还原剂。通过UV-Vis吸收光谱法（UV Vis。），傅里叶变换红外光谱法（FTIR），气相色谱质谱法（GC-MS），X射线衍射仪（XRD），能量色散X射线光谱仪（ EDX），扫描电子显微镜（SEM）和透射电子显微镜（TEM）。NiO NPs的平均粒径为13±1 nm，这是通过Scherrer方程计算得到的，具有均匀的立方体形状。研究了负载在镍泡沫上的NiO作为用于水分解应用的电催化剂。结果显示，在10 mA / cm ^2时，过电位为0.41 V，Tafel斜率为97 mVdec ^-1与基准催化剂相当。这些结果表明，有机骨架衍生的NiO可能是化学合成电极材料的竞争者，后者由昂贵的试剂组成，需要先进的合成方法。因此，在本研究中，我们认为生物辅助NiO是用于水分解研究的有效电极材料，并且可能是朝着用于能量转化的贵金属基电催化剂替代的可持续步骤。