A crystalline-amorphous interface engineering in Fe-doped NiP electrocatalyst for highly efficient oxygen evolution...

Area of Science:

• Electrochemistry
• Materials Science
• Renewable Energy

Background:

• Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is vital for clean energy systems like solar fuels and water splitting.
• Current OER catalysts face challenges with sluggish kinetics and high overpotentials, hindering simultaneous optimization of reaction rate and efficiency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel electrocatalyst for efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER).
• To investigate the performance of a hierarchical particle-sheet structured Fe-doped NiP electrocatalyst for OER and overall water splitting.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of a hierarchical particle-sheet structured Fe-doped NiP electrocatalyst.
• Electrochemical characterization of the catalyst for OER performance, including overpotential and Tafel slope measurements.
• Testing the catalyst in an overall water-splitting electrolytic cell.

Main Results:

• The Fe-doped NiP electrocatalyst achieved low OER overpotentials of 204 mV at 20 mA cm^-2, 225 mV at 100 mA cm^-2, and 231 mV at 300 mA cm^-2.
• Demonstrated fast reaction kinetics with a remarkable Tafel slope of 25 mV dec^-1.
• Achieved overall water splitting at a low voltage of 1.446 V for 10 mA cm^-2 and showed stable operation at high current densities (500-1000 mA cm^-2).

Conclusions:

• The hierarchical Fe-doped NiP electrocatalyst effectively reduces OER overpotential and improves kinetics.
• This catalyst shows significant potential for commercial applications in water splitting and other electrochemical energy systems due to its high efficiency and stability.