Nitrate-induced and in situ electrochemical activation synthesis of oxygen deficiencies-rich nickel/nickel (oxy)hydroxide hybrid films for enhanced electrocatalytic water splitting

作者：Gao, M. Y.; Sun, C. B.; Lei, H.; Zeng, J. R.; Zhang, Q. B.^*

来源：Nanoscale, 2018, 10(37): 17546-17551.

DOI：10.1039/c8nr06459h

• HYDROGEN-EVOLUTION REACTION
• NICKEL-HYDROXIDE
• NI
• CATALYSTS
• METAL
• FE
• CO
• NANOPARTICLES
• NANOSHEETS

Hydrogen produced by electrochemical water splitting offers a hopeful and renewable solution for addressing the global energy crisis; however, development of highly efficient non-noble-metal electrocatalysts remains a big challenge. Herein, we report a facile strategy to fabricate oxygen deficiencies-rich nickel/nickel (oxy) hydroxide hybrid films as efficient electrocatalysts for water splitting by in situ oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activation. Under OER conditions, the originally deposited Ni films from the ethaline-based deep eutectic solvent (DES) undergo a structural rearrangement with a phase transformation in the oxidation state from Ni(II) to Ni(III) at the surface. The change is coupled with an increase in oxygen deficiencies and a pronounced defective precursor is induced by the addition of nitrate ions, providing structural disordering and boosting the intrinsic activity of the catalyst, which strongly enhances the water splitting performance.

• 出版日期2018-10-7
• 单位昆明理工大学