Construction and enhancement of built-in electric field for efficient oxygen evolution reaction

Abstract

The construction and regulation of built-in electric field (BIEF) are considered effective strategies for enhancing the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance of transition metal-based electrocatalysts. Herein, we present a strategy to regulate the electronic structure of nickel–iron layered double hydroxide (NiFe-LDH) by constructing and enhancing the BIEF induced by in-situ heterojunction transformation. This concept is demonstrated through the design and synthesis of Ag2S@S/NiFe-LDH (p-n heterojunction) and Ag@S/NiFe-LDH (Mott-Schottky heterojunction). Benefiting from the larger BIEF of Mott-Schottky heterojunction, efficient electron transfer occurs at the interface between silver (Ag) and NiFe-LDH. As a result, Ag@S/NiFe-LDH exhibits excellent OER performance, requiring only a 232 mV overpotential at 1 M KOH to achieve a current density of 100 mA cm−2, with a small Tafel slope of 73 mV dec-1, as well as excellent electrocatalytic durability. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations further verified that stronger BIEF in Mott-Schottky heterojunction enhances the electron interaction at the interfaces, reduces the energy barrier for the rate-determining step (RDS), and accelerates the OER kinetics. This work provides an effective strategy for designing catalyst with larger BIEF to enhance electrocatalytic activity.