Fe-doped NiTe2/Ni2P grown in situ on Ni foam as an efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction

Abstract

Self-supported nanoparticle electrocatalysts with multiple active sites and porosity have a bright prospect in the direction of oxygen evolution reaction (OER). In this work, a three-dimensional (3D) porous nanoparticle Fe-NiTe 2 /Ni 2 P is presented, which exhibits outstanding electrocatalytic activity and excellent stability. Specifically, the OER activity of Fe-NiTe 2 /Ni 2 P requires only 190 mV overpotential at the current density of 10 mA cm -2 , which is the first time the overpotential of tellurides gets within 200 mV. It is because the rough porous 3D structure leads to a large number of exposed active sites, allowing enough channels to release oxygen and perform mass exchange. In addition, Fe doping can modulate the electronic structure of the catalyst, accelerate the electron transfer, and thus improve the activity of the catalyst. The catalyst remained stable in 1 M KOH solution for 22 h, indicating that it has strong corrosion resistance. In this work, a simple, efficient, low-cost and corrosion resistant iron-doped transition metal telluride electrocatalyst has been synthesized, which provides a valuable way for the study of water electrolysis. ● A three-dimensional (3D) porous nanoparticle Fe-NiTe 2 /Ni 2 P was synthesized as outstanding OER electrocatalyst. ● It requires a small overpotential of 190 mV to achieve the current density of 10 mA cm -2 for OER in 1 M KOH solution. ● It is the first time that the overpotential of tellurides is below 200 mV.