Nickel–Iron-Layered Double Hydroxide Electrocatalyst with Nanosheets Array for High Performance of Water Splitting
Zhi Lu, Shilin Li, Laiyuan Ning, Kun Tang, Yifan Guo, Long You, Chong Chen, Guangxin Wang
Abstract
Developing high-performance and cost-competitive electrocatalysts have great significance for the massive commercial production of water-splitting hydrogen. Ni-based electrocatalysts display tremendous potential for electrocatalytic water splitting. Herein, we synthesize a novel NiFe-layered double hydroxide (LDH) electrocatalyst in nanosheets array on high-purity Ni foam. By adjusting the Ni/Fe ratio, the microstructure, and even the behavior of the electrocatalyst in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), changes significantly. The as-obtained material shows a small overpotential of 223 mV at 10 mAcm−2 as well as a low Tafel slope of 48.9 mV·dec−1 in the 1 M KOH electrolyte. In addition, it can deliver good stability for at least 24 h of continuous working at 10 mAcm−2. This work proposes a strategy for engineering catalysts and provides a method for the development of other Ni-based catalysts with excellent performance.