Facile construction of heterostructural Ni3(NO3)2(OH)4/CeO2 bifunctional catalysts for boosted overall water splitting

Interface engineering has aroused vitally widespread concern since it could be an effective strategy for exploring high-performance and low-cost water oxidation electrocatalysts. Herein, we report a hetero-structured Ni3(NO3)2(OH)4/CeO2/NF (NNO/CeO2/NF) electrode, exhibiting superior performance owning to the NO3-anion substitution for the OH-in nickel hydroxide to form Ni3(NO3)2(OH)4, together with its interface synergy with ceria. In alkaline solution, the NNO/CeO2/NF electrocatalyst could catalyze the OER with an over -potential of 330 mV to approach 50 mA cm-2. Also, it needs only an overpotential of 120 mV to reach 10 mA cm-2 for HER. Additionally, when a standard two-electrode water elec-trolyzer is fabricated by employing NNO/CeO2/NF as both the cathode and anode, it can generate 10 mA cm-2 at 1.64 V and operate steadily without performance degradation after 25 h. This research provides a novel perspective for reasonable design of advanced catalytic materials with improvements in the field of electrocatalysis. (c) 2022 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Interface engineering is an effective strategy for exploring high-performance and low-cost water oxidation electrocatalysts. This study reports a Ni3(NO3)2(OH)4/CeO2/NF (NNO/CeO2/NF) electrode with superior performance due to the interface synergy between Ni3(NO3)2(OH)4 and ceria.