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Blending Cr 2 O 3 into a NiO–Ni Electrocatalyst for Sustained Water Splitting
Author(s) -
Gong Ming,
Zhou Wu,
Kenney Michael James,
Kapusta Rich,
Cowley Sam,
Wu Yingpeng,
Lu Bingan,
Lin MengChang,
Wang DiYan,
Yang Jiang,
Hwang BingJoe,
Dai Hongjie
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201504815
Subject(s) - non blocking i/o , electrocatalyst , electrolysis of water , water splitting , electrolysis , materials science , catalysis , chemical engineering , metal , heterojunction , hydrogen production , inorganic chemistry , electrochemistry , photocatalysis , chemistry , electrode , metallurgy , optoelectronics , organic chemistry , engineering , electrolyte
The rising H 2 economy demands active and durable electrocatalysts based on low‐cost, earth‐abundant materials for water electrolysis/photolysis. Here we report nanoscale Ni metal cores over‐coated by a Cr 2 O 3 ‐blended NiO layer synthesized on metallic foam substrates. The Ni@NiO/Cr 2 O 3 triphase material exhibits superior activity and stability similar to Pt for the hydrogen‐evolution reaction in basic solutions. The chemically stable Cr 2 O 3 is crucial for preventing oxidation of the Ni core, maintaining abundant NiO/Ni interfaces as catalytically active sites in the heterostructure and thus imparting high stability to the hydrogen‐evolution catalyst. The highly active and stable electrocatalyst enables an alkaline electrolyzer operating at 20 mA cm −2 at a voltage lower than 1.5 V, lasting longer than 3 weeks without decay. The non‐precious metal catalysts afford a high efficiency of about 15 % for light‐driven water splitting using GaAs solar cells.