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Vol. 14 (2022)

Interface Engineering of NixSy@MnOxHy Nanorods to Efficiently Enhance Overall-Water-Splitting Activity and Stability

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-022-00860-2
Pan Wang
Institute of Batteries, School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, People’s Republic of China
Yuanzhi Luo
Institute of Batteries, School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, People’s Republic of China
Gaixia Zhang
Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications Research Centre, Institut National de La Recherche Scientifique (INRS), Varennes, Québec J3X 1P7, Canada
Zhangsen Chen
Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications Research Centre, Institut National de La Recherche Scientifique (INRS), Varennes, Québec J3X 1P7, Canada
Hariprasad Ranganathan
Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications Research Centre, Institut National de La Recherche Scientifique (INRS), Varennes, Québec J3X 1P7, Canada
Shuhui Sun
Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications Research Centre, Institut National de La Recherche Scientifique (INRS), Varennes, Québec J3X 1P7, Canada
Zhicong Shi
Institute of Batteries, School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, People’s Republic of China

Corresponding Author: Zhicong Shi

zhicong@gdut.edu.cn

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 14 (2022), Article Number: 120

Abstract

Exploring highly active and stable transition metal-based bifunctional electrocatalysts has recently attracted extensive research interests for achieving high inherent activity, abundant exposed active sites, rapid mass transfer, and strong structure stability for overall water splitting. Herein, an interface engineering coupled with shell-protection strategy was applied to construct three-dimensional (3D) core‐shell NixSy@MnOxHy heterostructure nanorods grown on nickel foam (NixSy@MnOxHy/NF) as a bifunctional electrocatalyst. NixSy@MnOxHy/NF was synthesized via a facile hydrothermal reaction followed by an electrodeposition process. The X-ray absorption fine structure spectra reveal that abundant Mn‐S bonds connect the heterostructure interfaces of NixSy@MnOxHy, leading to a strong electronic interaction, which improves the intrinsic activities of hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Besides, as an efficient protective shell, the MnOxHy dramatically inhibits the electrochemical corrosion of the electrocatalyst at high current densities, which remarkably enhances the stability at high potentials. Furthermore, the 3D nanorod structure not only exposes enriched active sites, but also accelerates the electrolyte diffusion and bubble desorption. Therefore, NixSy@MnOxHy/NF exhibits exceptional bifunctional activity and stability for overall water splitting, with low overpotentials of 326 and 356 mV for OER at 100 and 500 mA cm–2, respectively, along with high stability of 150 h at 100 mA cm–2. Furthermore, for overall water splitting, it presents a low cell voltage of 1.529 V at 10 mA cm–2, accompanied by excellent stability at 100 mA cm–2 for 100 h. This work sheds a light on exploring highly active and stable bifunctional electrocatalysts by the interface engineering coupled with shell-protection strategy.


Highlights:


1 Three-dimensional (3D) core‐shell heterostructured NixSy@MnOxHy nanorods grown on nickel foam (NixSy@MnOxHy/NF) were successfully fabricated via a simple hydrothermal reaction and a subsequent electrodeposition process.
2 The fabricated NixSy@MnOxHy/NF shows outstanding bifunctional activity and stability for hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen evolution reaction, as well as overall‐water‐splitting performance.
3 The main origins are the interface engineering of NixSy@MnOxHy, the shell‐protection characteristic of MnOxHy, and the 3D open nanorod structure, which remarkably endow the electrocatalyst with high activity and stability.

Keywords

Interface engineering Protective shell Manganese compound Nickel sulfides Bifunctional Water splitting
Wang, Pan, Yuanzhi Luo, Gaixia Zhang, Zhangsen Chen, Hariprasad Ranganathan, Shuhui Sun, and Zhicong Shi. 2022. “Interface Engineering of NixSy@MnOxHy Nanorods to Efficiently Enhance Overall-Water-Splitting Activity and Stability”. Nano-Micro Letters 14 (May):120. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-022-00860-2.
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