Ru nanoparticles modified Ni₃Se₄/Ni(OH)₂ heterostructure nanosheets: A fast kinetics boosted bifunctional overall...

Properly design and manufacture of bifunctional electrocatalysts with superb performance and endurance are crucial for overall water splitting. The interfacial engineering strategy is acknowledged as a promising approach to enhance catalytic performance of overall water splitting catalysts. Herein, the Ru nanoparticles modified Ni₃Se₄/Ni(OH)₂ heterostructured nanosheets catalyst was constructed using a simple two-step hydrothermal process. The experimental results demonstrate that the abundant heterointerfaces between Ru and Ni₃Se₄/Ni(OH)₂ can increase the number of active sites and effectively regulate the electronic structure, greatly accelerating the kinetics of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER)/oxygen evolution reaction (OER). As a result, the Ru/Ni₃Se₄/Ni(OH)₂/NF catalyst exhibits the low overpotential of 102.8 mV and 334.5 mV at 100 mA cm^-2 for HER and OER in alkaline medium, respectively. Furthermore, a two-electrode system composed of the Ru/Ni₃Se₄/Ni(OH)₂/NF requires a battery voltage of just 1.51 V at 10 mA cm^-2 and remains stable for 200 h at 500 mA cm^-2. This work provides an effective strategy for constructing Ru-based heterostructured catalysts with excellent catalytic activity.