Bifunctional MnCo <sub>2</sub> Se <sub>4</sub> nano‐cubes directly grown on nickel foam for effective water oxidation
Syed Imran Abbas Shah, Karam Jabbour, Nigarish Bano, Muhammad Yousaf Ur Rehman, Razan A. Alshgari, Muhammad Fahad Ehsan
Abstract
Abstract Green and sustainable energy alternatives to replace fossil fuels are a topic of research in scientific community, thus yielding pursuit of advancing renewable energy systems with hydrogen emerging as a suitable and viable alternative. Efficient and non‐precious metal catalysts are crucial for large‐scale electrochemical water splitting yielding clean H 2 . Here, a novel two‐step hydrothermal synthesis approach to fabricate manganese–cobalt selenide nano‐cubes grown directly on nickel foam (NF) (MnCo 2 Se 4 /NF) is adopted. Leveraging its hierarchically structured architecture, augmented active sites, and electrochemically active surface area, MnCo 2 Se 4 /NF material demonstrates exceptional electrocatalytic performance for both water oxidation and reduction. With an overpotential of 233 mV for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and 187 mV for hydrogen evolution reaction at a current density of 10 mA/cm 2 , MnCo 2 Se 4 /NF also exhibits a Tafel slope of 44 mV/dec for sluggish OER process. Notably, this nanocrystalline catalyst displays enhanced catalytic activity under alkaline conditions, accelerates water dissociation, and maintains good stability over 50 h. Outperforming state‐of‐the‐art RuO 2 , particularly in two‐electrode assemblies with an overpotential of 218 mV at 10 mA/cm 2 , this work offers a promising pathway for designing and manufacturing of innovative bifunctional electrocatalysts for efficient water splitting processes, thereby contributing to broader goal of sustainable energy production.