Special structure of materials often bring in unprecedented catalytic activity which are critical in realizing large-scale hydrogen production by electrochemical water splitting.Herein, we report CoO/MoO x crystalline/amorphous structure as an effective bifunctional electrocatalyst for water splitting. Converted from CoMoO 4 by hydrogenation, the CoO/MoO x , featured with crystalline CoO in amorphous MoO x matrix, displays superior catalytic activities toward both hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). It shows small onset overpotentials of 40 and 230 mV for the HER and OER in 1.0 M KOH, respectively, and overall water splitting starting at 1.53 V with a robust stability. The high catalytic activity of the CoO/MoO x is benefited from the large defect-rich interface between CoO and MoO x , along with the amorphous nature of MoO x . Thus, this study demonstrates the effectiveness of structural manipulation in developing highly active electrocatalysts for overall electrochemical water splitting.
Earth-abundant, low-cost, and highly active bifunctional electrocatalysts are of significant importance to the large-scale production of hydrogen from water electrolysis. Herein, it is reported that novel FeNi 3 /NiFeO x nanohybrids display high electrocatalytic activities in both hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). These FeNi 3 /NiFeO x nanohybrids are obtained with the unique hydrogenation treatment of NiFeO x nanosheets. Small onset potentials of ≈20 and 240 mV are obtained for HER and OER, respectively, benefited from the synergistic effect of FeNi 3 and NiFeO x . Only a small voltage of 1.55 V is needed to reach a current density of 10 mA cm −2 for the overall water splitting in an alkaline electrolyzer when using FeNi 3 /NiFeO x as both cathode and anode catalysts. This is one of the best performance of electrocatalysts for HER and OER, shining the bright future for earth-abundant, low-cost bifunctional electrocatalysts for largescale production of hydrogen from water electrolysis.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.