hybridization of an MXene/TiO/NiFeCo-layered double hydroxide composite for electrochemical and photoelectrochemical oxygen evolution.

Electrochemical and photoelectrochemical (PEC) oxygen evolution reactions (OER) are receiving considerable attention owing to their important roles in the overall water splitting reaction. In this contribution, ternary NiFeCo-layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanoplates were hybridized with TiCT (the MXene phase) a simple solvothermal process during which TiCT was partially oxidized to form anatase TiO nanoparticles. The obtained TiCT /TiO/NiFeCo-LDH composite (denoted as TTL) showed a superb OER performance as compared with pristine NiFeCo-LDH and comercial IrO catalyst, achieving a current density of 10 mA cm at a potential of 1.55 V a reversible hydrogen electrode ( RHE) in 0.1 M KOH. Importantly, the composite was further deposited on a standard BiVO film to construct a TTL/BiVO photoanode which showed a significantly enhanced photocurrent density of 2.25 mA cm at 1.23 V RHE under 100 mW cm illumination. The excellent PEC-OER performance can be attributed to the presence of TiO nanoparticles which broadened the light adsorption to improve the generation of electron/hole pairs, while the ternary LDH nanoplates were efficient hole scavengers and the metallic TiCT nanosheets were effective shuttles for transporting electrons/ions. Our synthetic method provides a facile way to prepare multi-component catalysts for effective water oxidation and solar energy conversion.