One-step growth of nitrogen-decorated iron-nickel sulfide nanosheets for the oxygen evolution reaction

The large overpotential loss of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a major obstacle restricting the wide commercial application of water-splitting devices. Herein, we report one-step growth of nitrogen-decorated iron-nickel sulfide nanosheetarrays on a conductive Ni-Fe alloy foam (N-(Ni, Fe)(3)S-2/NIF). It is noteworthy that N-(Ni, Fe) S-3(2)/NIF has an ultra-low overpotential of 167 mV at 10 mA cm(-2) and exhibits the best OER performance among the non-precious electrocatalysts reported so far. Furthermore, N-(Ni, Fe)(3)S-2/NIF shows nearly no degradation after a long-term OER test for 50 h at a constant current density of 10 mA cm(-2). The superior catalytic activity and stability for the OER is due to the application of simultaneous regulation of specific morphologies, incorporation of Fe, and surface nitrogen-anion decoration on Ni3S2 materials. In addition, N-(Ni, Fe)(3)S-2/NIF prepared by another method also shows excellent OER activity. This work will pave a new way to develop advanced electrocatalysts with a lower OER overpotential.