A Molecular Ni-complex Containing Tetrahedral Nickel Selenide Core as Highly Efficient Electrocatalyst for Water Oxidation

We report the highly efficient catalytic activity of a transition metal selenide-based coordination complex, [Ni{(SePiPr(2))(2)N}(2)], (1) for oxygen evolution and hydrogen evolution reactions (OER and HER, respectively) in alkaline solution. Very low overpotentials of 200 mV and 310 mV were required to achieve 10 mAcm(-2) for OER and HER, respectively. The overpotential for OER is one of the lowest that has been reported up to now, making this one of the best OER electrocatalysts. In addition, this molecular complex exhibits an exceptionally high mass activity (111.02 Ag-1) and a much higher TOF value (0.26 s(-1)) at a overpotential of 300 mV. This bifunctional electrocatalyst enables water electrolysis in alkaline solutions at a cell voltage of 1.54 V.