Constructing highly efficient hybrid structured Ce-V₂O₅@PPy as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water...

To develop efficient and stable non-precious metal water electrolysis catalysts, this study successfully constructed Ce-doped V₂O₅ core-shell nanostructured materials coated with polypyrrole (Ce-V₂O₅@PPy) through hydrothermal synthesis combined with electrochemical deposition. Characterization results demonstrate that Ce doping effectively modulates the electronic states of V₂O₅, enlarges the lattice spacing, and induces oxygen vacancy formation, while PPy coating further enhances the material's conductivity and interfacial reaction kinetics. Electrochemical tests revealed that the optimized sample Ce-V₂O₅@PPy-2 exhibits excellent hydrogen evolution (HER) and oxygen evolution (OER) activity in alkaline electrolytes, with overpotentials of 121.9 mV and 281 mV at 10 mA cm^-2 current density, respectively. As a bifunctional catalyst, the assembled water-splitting system achieves 10 mA cm^-2 performance with only 1.62 V and maintains stability during 50 hours of testing. This study provides a novel strategy for designing high-performance, pH-agnostic non-precious metal electrocatalytic materials.