N2H4 electrooxidation at negative potential on novel wearable nano-Ni-MWNTs-textile electrode

• The novel Ni-MWNTs-textile electrode is prepared by the facile “dipping and drying” and electrodeposition process.
• The Ni-MWNTs-textile electrode exhibits a special three dimensional network structure.
• The Ni-MWNTs-textile electrode exhibits excellent performance for N2H4 electrooxidation.

A new composite Ni electrode is simply prepared by electrodeposition of nano-scaled Ni particles onto multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs)-enabled conductive textile fiber (cosmetic cotton) which owns an especial three-dimensional (3D) network structure. The morphology and phase structure of the Ni-MWNTs-textile electrode are characterized by scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope and X-ray diffraction spectrometer, and the catalytic performance for the N2H4 electrooxidation is tested by linear sweep voltammetry and chronoamperometry. The results show that the Ni-MWNTs-textile electrode exhibits a remarkably high catalytic activity and good stability for N2H4 electrooxidation. The onset potential stays at around −0.9 V and the oxidation current density reaches as high as 12 mA cm−2 in the solution containing 1 mol dm−3 NaOH and 20 mmol dm−3 N2H4 at around −0.80 V, both of which outstrip the previous reports.