Synergistic coupling of NiFe layered double hydroxides with Co-C nanofibers for high-efficiency oxygen evolution reaction

Abstract

In recent years, the design of high-performance and low-cost electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) has captured great interest in the field of energy conversion and storage. Layered double hydroxide (LDH) with special configuration usually shows a highly electrochemical activity and become a desirable functional material for OER. In this work, carbon nanofibers embedded with Co nanoparticles have been prepared via an electrospinning and carbonization process, which can be served as a conductive support for the growth of NiFe LDH nanosheets through an electrodeposition route to produce a hierarchical 3D structure (denoted as 3D core-shell Co-C@NiFe LDH nanofibers). Owing to the high conductivity, large surface area and strong electron transfer between NiFe LDH nanosheets and Co-C nanofibers, the as-prepared 3D core-shell Co-C@NiFe LDH nanofibrous catalyst shows an excellent OER performance with an overpotential of only 249 mV at the current density of 10 mA cm−2 and a small Tafel slope of 57.9 mV dec−1, demonstrating an outstanding electrocatalytic activity for water oxidation. Furthermore, the 3D core-shell Co-C@NiFe LDH nanofibers also exhibit a superior long-term stability, with no obvious decrease in current density after nearly 190 h testing. Hence, the low-cost 3D core-shell Co-C@NiFe LDH nanofibrous electrocatalyst with an outstanding OER performance offers a novel chance for practical electrochemical water splitting application.