Interface-induced phase engineering to boost intrinsic catalytic activity of nickel selenide for improved water/seawater hydrogen evolution

Abstract

Regulating electronic structure can fundamentally and effectively change the electrocatalytic HER performance of nickel selenide. Herein, we designed a highly-active electrocatalyst of interface-rich 1 T-MoSe2/NiSe via the interface-induced phase transition method from NiSe2 to NiSe. As expected, 1 T-MoSe2/NiSe showed superior HER performance in alkaline and alkaline seawater solution, which only required 98 and 104 mV at 10 mA·cm−2. Experimental and theoretical data displayed that the formation of heterointerface and phase transition in 1 T-MoSe2/NiSe could effectively regulate the phase structure and hydrogen adsorption energy in nickel selenide, thus improving the catalytic performance. Meanwhile, an abundance of specific surface area in 1 T-MoSe2/NiSe could allow reactants to easily arrive the active site and produce high electrocatalytic performance. In all, this work can offer a new vision for the designing highly-efficient nickel selenide-based electrocatalysts via the interface-induced phase engineering strategy.