Design of wood-based self-supporting metal catalyst based on NiCo2O4 bridge for efficient oxygen evolution

Abstract

Design the ingenious structure of catalyst via a simple method is critical for reducing the overpotential of OER reaction. Herein, a wood-based self-supporting electrocatalyst with a three-dimensional layered structure was developed by coupling lignification-electro-deposition-carbonization process from wood substrate, NiCo2O4 and NiFe-LDH. Significantly, the layered porous structure of the wood substrate ensures the high efficiency of mass transfer and the stability of the catalyst. NiCo2O4 with array structure as a bridge connected effectively wood substrate and the metal active material, resulted in Ni-Fe metal regular growth on NiCo2O4 bridge. The obtained NiFe-LDH@NiCo2O4/CW exhibited a low overpotential of 82 mV, excellent long-term stability at 10 mA cm−2, high activity and stability. This work broadens a facile route for high value-added utilization of wood-based materials in oxygen evolution electrocatalysts.