Interface Catalysts of Ni<sub>3</sub>Fe<sub>1</sub> Layered Double Hydroxide and Titanium Carbide for High-Performance Water Oxidation in Alkaline and Natural Conditions
Fuzhan Song, Shaun Debow, Tong Zhang, Yuqin Qian, Zhi-Chao Huang-Fu, Kaylee Munns, Sydney Schmidt, Haley Fisher, Jesse B. Brown, Yanqing Su, Zachary Zander, Brendan G. DeLacy, Mark S. Mirotznik, R. L. Opila, Yi Rao
Abstract
The electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is important for many renewable energy technologies. Developing cost-effective electrocatalysts with high performance remains a great challenge. Here, we successfully demonstrate our novel interface catalyst comprised of Ni 3 Fe 1 -based layered double hydroxides (Ni 3 Fe 1 -LDH) vertically immobilized on a two-dimensional MXene (Ti 3 C 2 T x ) surface. The Ni 3 Fe 1 -LDH/Ti 3 C 2 T x yielded an anodic OER current of 100 mA cm –2 at 0.28 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), nearly 74 times lower than that of the pristine Ni 3 Fe 1 -LDH. Furthermore, the Ni 3 Fe 1 -LDH/Ti 3 C 2 T x catalyst requires an overpotential of only 0.31 V versus RHE to deliver an industrial-level current density as high as 1000 mA cm –2 . Such excellent OER activity was attributed to the synergistic interface effect between Ni 3 Fe 1 -LDH and Ti 3 C 2 T x . Density functional theory (DFT) results further reveal that the Ti 3 C 2 T x support can efficiently accelerate the electron extraction from Ni 3 Fe 1 -LDH and tailor the electronic structure of catalytic sites, resulting in enhanced OER performance.