Scalloped nickel/iron vanadium oxide-coated vanadium dioxides based on chemical etching-induced reconstruction strategy for efficient oxygen evolution

Abstract

Developing highly efficient and stable noble metal-free electrocatalysts with excellent catalytic surface for oxygen evolution reactions (OER) is an essential link for stimulating hydrogen generation from water electrolysis. Herein, the scalloped nickel/iron vanadium oxide coated vanadium dioxide (named as VO2@NFVO) has been successfully decorated via a urea-induced chemical etching-reconstruction process in the alkaline solution containing Fe2+ and Ni2+. Corresponding experimental measurements clearly show that favorable chemical etching occurs with the formation of new phases (eg, Ni3V2O8, FeVO4), which make it expose a large number of active sites and regulate the electron density of the active center, thus thereby dramatically enhancing the electrocatalytic performance by promoting electron transfer and optimizing the adsorption energy of reaction intermediates. Under optimized condition, the obtained VO2@NFVO delivers excellent activity merely with smaller overpotential of 290 mV at 10 mA cm−2, outperforming benchmark RuO2 catalyst in an alkaline solution. Moreover, its superior durability is verified by chronoamperometry testing. This simple etching-reconstruction strategy opens a new avenue for the preparation of vanadium-based electrocatalysts.