Electrospun prussian blue analogue derived NiCo@N-doped carbon nanofibers as efficient and highly stable electrocatalysts for neutral overall water splitting. (19th February 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhang, Bing; Shan, Jiongwei; Yu, Jianlin; Wang, Weilong; Li, Wenwu; Li, Na; Li, Yunyong
• Is Part Of: International journal of hydrogen energy. Volume 46:Number 13(2021)
• Page Start: 8871
• Page End: 8884
• Publication Date: 2021-02-19
• Subjects: Electrospinning -- NiCo nanoparticles -- N-doped carbon fibers -- Bifunctional electrocatalysts -- Neutral-pH overall water splitting; Hydrogen as fuel -- Periodicals; Hydrogène (Combustible) -- Périodiques; Hydrogen as fuel; Periodicals; 665.81
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.12.221
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0360-3199

Abstract

Abstract: Herein, we demonstrate an effective strategy to improve the catalytic stability and efficiency of inexpensive bifunctional electrocatalysts via using electrospun Prussian blue analogue derived NiCo alloy nanoparticles encapsulated in nitrogen-doped carbon nanofibers (NiCo@NC) for neutral overall water splitting. The optimal NiCo@NC-900 exhibits the best electrocatalytic activity toward hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in 1 M phosphate-buffered saline (PBS, pH 7), respectively. More importantly, a neutral electrolyzer using NiCo@NC-900 as both HER and OER electrodes achieves high stability with over 140 h and requires a low cell voltage of 1.75 V at 10 mA cm −2 . The remarkable stability and superior activity origin form the unique hierarchically porous and encapsulated structure, large surface area, abundant exposing active sites, and synergistic effect between the highly catalytic active NiCo alloy nanoparticles and high-conductivity N-doped carbon nanofibers, as demonstrated by the detailed analysis before and after HER and OER testing. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: Electrospun Prussian blue analogue derived NiCo@N-doped carbon nanofibers (NiCo@NC) was synthesized. NiCo@NC gives hierarchically porous and encapsulated structure and large surface area. The optimized NiCo@NC exhibits excellent HER and OER performance in neutral media. A neutral electrolyzer achieves long durability of 140 h and a low cell voltage of 1.75 V at 10 mA cm −2 .