Salokhe Balaji S, Nguyen Thanh Tuan, Rawat Rohit Singh, Song Hewei, Kim Nam Hoon, Lee Joong Hee
Advanced Materials Institute of Nano Convergence Engineering (BK21 FOUR), Dept. of Nano Convergence Engineering, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, Jeonbuk, 54896, Republic of Korea.
Carbon Composite Research Centre, Department of Polymer - Nano Science and Technology, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, Jeonbuk, 54896, Republic of Korea.
Small. 2025 Mar;21(9):e2410986. doi: 10.1002/smll.202410986. Epub 2025 Jan 29.
Developing cost-effective, highly efficient, and durable bifunctional electrocatalysts for water electrolysis remains a significant challenge. Nickel-based materials have shown promise as catalysts, but their efficiency in alkaline electrolytes is still lacking. Fascinatingly, Mott-Schottky catalysts can fine-tune electron density at interfaces, boosting intermediate adsorption and facilitating desorption to reduce the energy barrier. In this study, iridium-implanted Mott-Schottky Ni/NiP nanosheets (Ir-Ni/NiP) is introduced, which are delivered from the metal-organic framework and employ them as the bifunctional catalysts for water electrolysis devices. This catalyst requires a small 54 mV overpotential for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and 192 mV for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) to reach 10 mA·cm in a 1.0 m KOH electrolyte. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the incorporation of Ir atoms with enriched interfaces between Ni and NiP can promote the active sites and be favorable for the HER and OER. This discovery highlights the most likely reactive sites and offers a valuable blueprint for designing highly efficient and stable catalysts tailored for industrial-scale electrolysis. The Ir-Ni/NiP electrode exhibits exceptional current density and outstanding stability in a single-cell anion-exchange membrane electrolyzer.
开发用于水电解的具有成本效益、高效且耐用的双功能电催化剂仍然是一项重大挑战。镍基材料已显示出作为催化剂的潜力，但其在碱性电解质中的效率仍有待提高。有趣的是，莫特-肖特基催化剂可以微调界面处的电子密度，增强中间体吸附并促进解吸以降低能垒。在本研究中，引入了从金属有机框架制备的铱注入莫特-肖特基Ni/NiP纳米片（Ir-Ni/NiP），并将其用作水电解装置的双功能催化剂。在1.0 m KOH电解质中，该催化剂在析氢反应（HER）中达到10 mA·cm需要54 mV的小过电位，在析氧反应（OER）中需要192 mV。密度泛函理论（DFT）计算表明，在Ni和NiP之间具有丰富界面的Ir原子的掺入可以促进活性位点，有利于HER和OER。这一发现突出了最可能的反应位点，并为设计适用于工业规模电解的高效稳定催化剂提供了有价值的蓝图。Ir-Ni/NiP电极在单电池阴离子交换膜电解槽中表现出优异的电流密度和出色的稳定性。
