Cobalt Iron Hydroxide as a Precious Metal-Free Bifunctional Electrocatalyst for Efficient Overall Water Splitting

Highly efficient and stable electrocatalysts from inexpensive and earth-abundant elements are emerging materials in the overall water splitting process. Herein, cobalt iron hydroxide nanosheets are directly deposited on nickel foam by a simple and rapid electrodeposition method. The cobalt iron hydroxide (CoFe/NF) nanosheets not only allow good exposure of the highly active surface area but also facilitate the mass and charge transport capability. As an anode, the CoFe/NF electrocatalyst displays excellent oxygen evolution reaction catalytic activity with an overpotential of 220 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm^-2 . As a cathode, it exhibits good performance in the hydrogen evolution reaction with an overpotential of 110 mV, reaching a current density of 10 mA cm^-2 . When CoFe/NF electrodes are used as the anode and the cathode for water splitting, a low cell voltage of 1.64 V at 10 mA cm^-2 and excellent stability for 50 h are observed. The present work demonstrates a possible pathway to develop a highly active and durable substitute for noble metal electrocatalysts for overall water splitting.