Formicarium-Inspired Hierarchical Conductive Architecture for CoSe@MoSe Catalysts Towards Advanced Anion Exchange Membrane Electrolyzers.

The exploration of high-performance, low-cost, and dual-function electrodes is crucial for anion exchange membrane water electrolysis (AEMWE) to meet the relentless demand for green H production. In this study, a heteroatom-doped carbon-cage-supported CoSe@MoSe@NC catalyst with a formicarium structure has been fabricated using a scalable one-step selenization strategy. The component-refined bifunctional catalyst exhibited minimal overpotential values of 116 mV and 283 mV at 10 mA cm in 1 M KOH for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), respectively. Specifically, rationally designed heterostructures and flexible carbonaceous sponges facilitate interfacial reaction equalization, modulate local electronic distributions, and establish efficient electron transport pathways, thereby enhancing catalytic activity and durability. Furthermore, the assembled AEMWE based on the CoSe@MoSe@NC bifunctional catalysts can achieve a current density of 106 mA cm at 1.9 V and maintain a favorable durability after running for 100 h (a retention of 95%). This work highlights a new insight into the development of advanced bifunctional catalysts with enhanced activity and durability for AEMWE.