Accelerated oxygen evolution kinetics on nickel–iron diselenide nanotubes by modulating electronic structure

Bocheng Qiu, Lejuan Cai, Yang Wang, Sainan Ma, Yuen Hong Tsang, Yang Chai

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

45 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Development of cost-effective, highly active and durable electrocatalysts is highly demanded for oxygen evolution reaction (OER), which is an indispensable process involved in water splitting cells and metal-air batteries. Here, we accelerate the sluggish OER kinetics by controlling the morphology and engineering electronic structure of Fe x Ni 1-x Se 2 catalysts. Fe x Ni 1-x Se 2 nanotubes with tunable stoichiometry were fabricated through the removal of sacrificial templates (Cu 2 O nanowires) and subsequent low-temperature selenization process. By precise tuning of Fe doping amount in Fe x Ni 1-x Se 2 nanotubes, the optimized Fe 0.125 Ni 0.875 Se 2 nanotubes show a low overpotential of 253 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm −2 , a small Tafel slope of 49 mV dec −1 , and superior durability. By combining analysis of the experimental results with density-functional-theory (DFT) simulations, we reveal that the in-situ formed amorphous hydroxyl group layers on the surface of Fe 0.125 Ni0 .875 Se 2 (Fe 0.125 Ni 0.875 Se 2 –OH) enable highly efficient oxygen evolution catalysis. The Fe dopant can achieve a near-optimal adsorption energy for OER intermediates (OH* O* and OOH*) on the oxidized surface of Fe 0.125 Ni 0.875 Se 2 –OH, which is responsible to the enhanced OER performance of Fe 0.125 Ni 0.875 Se 2 . This work paves a new way for exploring low cost and highly active OER electrocatalysts based on ternary metal selenides with hollow structure.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)89-96
Number of pages8
JournalMaterials Today Energy
Volume11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2019

Keywords

  • Bimetal selenide
  • Charge density
  • Nanotubes
  • Oxygen evolution reaction
  • Surface oxidized layers

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Materials Science (miscellaneous)
  • Nuclear Energy and Engineering
  • Fuel Technology
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Accelerated oxygen evolution kinetics on nickel–iron diselenide nanotubes by modulating electronic structure'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this