Hierarchical Nanoporous V2O3 Nanosheets Anchored with Alloy Nanoparticles for Efficient Electrocatalysis

Abstract

Exploring low-cost bifunctional electrocatalysts for efficient water splitting still faces arduous challenges. Herein, a general and straightforward method is developed to prepare 3D hierarchical nanoporous V2O3 nanosheets anchored with different alloy nanoparticles by adopting metal-ion-doped zinc-vanadium (oxy)hydroxides as precursors. To demonstrate this concept, we produced nanoporous V2O3 nanosheets dotted with NiFe alloy nanoparticles through high-temperature reduction and free corrosion. Due to the increased number of active sites, accelerated mass transfer originating from the designed nanoporous architecture, and the metallic property of the V2O3 matrix, the NiFe@V2O3 hybrid exhibits excellent electrocatalytic performances for both oxygen and hydrogen evolution reactions. When adopting the NiFe@V2O3 as a bifunctional electrode for overall water splitting, it only requires a cell voltage of 1.56 V to reach 10 mA cm-2. This work provides a general and practical way to prepare high-efficient and low-cost electrocatalysts.