Hydrotalcite-like Ni(OH)₂ Nanosheets in Situ Grown on Nickel Foam for Overall Water Splitting

Abstract

Designing economical and high-efficiency electrocatalysts for overall water splitting is urgently needed but remains a long and arduous task. Herein, we synthesized hydrotalcite-like Ni(OH) nanosheets growing on Ni foam (Ni(OH)/NF) via a facile one-pot hydrothermal method. With the assistance of a rotating oven, Ni(OH) nanosheets demonstrate a regular hexagonal morphology and homogeneous distribution. The resultant Ni(OH)/NF electrode shows superior electrocatalytic activity and durability for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER), as well as the overall water splitting. The Ni(OH)/NF electrode delivers 20 mA·cm at an overpotential of 172 mV for HER, 50 mA·cm at an overpotential of 330 mV for OER, and 10 mA·cm at a cell voltage of 1.68 V for water electrolysis in 1.0 M KOH. The present study demonstrates a feasible and effective strategy to prepare highly efficient electrocatalysts for water electrolysis.

In Situ Growth of Ag Nanodots Decorated Cu2O Porous Nanobelts Networks on Copper Foam for Efficient HER Electrocatalysis

“…Irregular nanoparticles instead of Cu 2 O nanobelts were deposited if no AgNO 3 was added, while CuO nanowires rather than Cu 2 O nanobelts were the products when NaOH was used instead of KOH . The 3D macroporous skeleton structure makes Cu foam serve as a desirable substrate for in situ growth of Ag@Cu 2 O nanobelts on its surface forming Ag@Cu 2 O/CF composite networks, which may provide electrodes with more active sites and excellent conductivity and result in enhanced HER activities …”

Hybrid Films of Ni(OH)2 Nanowall Networks on Reduced Graphene Oxide Prepared at a Liquid/Liquid Interface for Oxygen Evolution and Supercapacitor Applications

“…Henceforth, to address all these problems, one feasible and effective approach is to fabricate novel hybrid nanostructured materials. The growth of electrocatalysts directly on conductive substrates such as graphene nanosheets, carbon nanofibres and nanotubes and Ni foam is an effective way to improve the capacitive performance and cycling stability of the electrode materials by enhancing the electrical conductivity . Of particular interest is graphene and its derivatives such as reduced graphene oxide (rGO) possessing high surface area, good mechanical and thermal stability and have been widely investigated for electrochemical applications ,…”

“…− Compared to the numerous reports of Ni(OH) 2 nanostructures for supercapacitor applications, studies on their oxygen evolution activity are less . Ni(OH) 2 in the form of nanoparticles, nanosheets supported on Ni foam, nanoplates on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), nanosheets doped with other active metals on Ni foam, etc have been reported for OER ,,. In a recent report, Zhou et al.…”

Fabrication of Porous Mesh‐Like FeCo2S4 Nanosheet Arrays on Ni Foam for High Performance all Solid‐State Supercapacitors and Water Splitting

“…Based on results discussed above, the excellent electrocatalytic performance of FeCo 2 S 4 nanosheet arrays for both OER and HER reactions can be attributed in the following aspects: (1) The Fe−Co materials directly grow on Ni foam without any polymer binder, enabling great mechanical adhesion and eliminating interfacial overpotential between active materials and structure . (2) The gap between nanosheets contributes to rapid gas spillage and the porous structure of electrode surface can reduce adhesive force between nanosheets and gas bubbles, achieving excellent bubble departure ability .…”