Exploring efficient and cost-effective electro- catalysts for oxygen evolution reaction （OER） is critical to water splitting. While nickel-iron layered double hydroxide （NiFe LDH） has been long recognized as a pro...Exploring efficient and cost-effective electro- catalysts for oxygen evolution reaction （OER） is critical to water splitting. While nickel-iron layered double hydroxide （NiFe LDH） has been long recognized as a promising non- precious electrocatalyst for OER, its intrinsic activity needs further improvement. Herein, we design a highly-efficient oxygen evolution electrode based on defective NiFe LDH na- noarray. By combing the merits of the modulated electronic structure, more exposed active sites, and the conductive elec- trode, the defective NiFe LDH electrocatalysts show a low onset potential of 1.40 V （vs. RHE）. An overpotential of only 200 mV is required for 10 mA cm-2, which is 48 mV lower than that of pristine NiFe-LDH. Density functional theory plus U （DFT＋U） calculations are further employed for the origin of this OER activity enhancement. We find the introduction of oxygen vacancies leads to a lower valance state of Fe and the narrowed bandgap, which means the electrons tend to be ea- sily excited into the conduction band, resulting in the lowered reaction overpotential and enhanced OER performance.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China,National Key Research and Development Project (2016YFC0801302, 2016YFF0204402)the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in the University+2 种基金the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universitiesthe longterm subsidy mechanism from the Ministry of Financethe Ministry of Education of China
文摘Exploring efficient and cost-effective electro- catalysts for oxygen evolution reaction （OER） is critical to water splitting. While nickel-iron layered double hydroxide （NiFe LDH） has been long recognized as a promising non- precious electrocatalyst for OER, its intrinsic activity needs further improvement. Herein, we design a highly-efficient oxygen evolution electrode based on defective NiFe LDH na- noarray. By combing the merits of the modulated electronic structure, more exposed active sites, and the conductive elec- trode, the defective NiFe LDH electrocatalysts show a low onset potential of 1.40 V （vs. RHE）. An overpotential of only 200 mV is required for 10 mA cm-2, which is 48 mV lower than that of pristine NiFe-LDH. Density functional theory plus U （DFT＋U） calculations are further employed for the origin of this OER activity enhancement. We find the introduction of oxygen vacancies leads to a lower valance state of Fe and the narrowed bandgap, which means the electrons tend to be ea- sily excited into the conduction band, resulting in the lowered reaction overpotential and enhanced OER performance.
