Cheng Xiaodi, Yuan Jiaxin, Cao Junhui, Lei Chaojun, Yang Bin, Li Zhongjian, Zhang Xingwang, Yuan Chris, Lei Lecheng, Hou Yang
Key Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, 38 Zheda Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310027, China.
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44106, United States.
J Colloid Interface Sci. 2020 Nov 1;579:340-346. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.06.065. Epub 2020 Jun 16.
Development of Fe-Ni-based electrocatalysts with high efficiency and stability remains a foremost challenge in the research for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) under high-current-density. Herein, a fast reduction strategy is developed for synthesis of strongly coupled crystalline α-Ni(OH) with amorphous reduced FeOOH (r-FeOOH) heterostructure grown on Ni foam (r-FeOOH/α-Ni(OH)/NF). The obtained r-FeOOH/α-Ni(OH) with particle sizes around ~ 10 nm is coated orderly on the 3D NF surface in this hybrid. Benefitting from the strong coupling effects between r-FeOOH and α-Ni(OH), low potentials of 1.62 and 1.66 V at ultra-high current densities of 1,000 and 1,500 mA cm, as well as a robust stability over 10 h at 1,500 mA cm in alkaline electrolyte are achieved in 3D r-FeOOH/α-Ni(OH)/NF. Such a high OER performance is almost the best among all previously reported Fe-Ni-based OER electrocatalysts. Experimental results revealed that the NiOOH species is the real OER active phase in the 3D r-FeOOH/α-Ni(OH)/NF. Further, bifunctional 3D r-FeOOH/α-Ni(OH) in alkaline electrolyzer delivers low cell voltages of 2.32 and 2.78 V to attain 500 and 1,000 mA cm toward the overall-water-splitting, surpassing the benchmark Pt/C-Ir/C/NF system.