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α‐Ni(OH) 2 Originated from Electro‐Oxidation of NiSe 2 Supported by Carbon Nanoarray on Carbon Cloth for Efficient Water Oxidation
Author(s) -
Wang Ling,
Wang Xiaopeng,
Xi Shibo,
Du Yonghua,
Xue Junmin
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
small
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.785
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1613-6829
pISSN - 1613-6810
DOI - 10.1002/smll.201902222
Subject(s) - overpotential , oxygen evolution , electrocatalyst , materials science , electrochemistry , carbon fibers , x ray absorption fine structure , chemical engineering , water splitting , inorganic chemistry , catalysis , electrode , chemistry , composite material , organic chemistry , photocatalysis , physics , quantum mechanics , spectroscopy , composite number , engineering
Development of effective oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts has been intensively studied to improve water splitting efficiency and cost effectiveness in the last ten years. However, it is a big challenge to obtain highly efficient and durable OER electrocatalysts with overpotentials below 200 mV at 10 mA cm −2 despite the efforts made to date. In this work, the successful synthesis of supersmall α‐Ni(OH) 2 is reported through electro‐oxidation of NiSe 2 loaded onto carbon nanoarrays. The obtained α‐Ni(OH) 2 shows excellent activity and long‐term stability for OER, with an overpotential of only 190 mV at the current density of 10 mA cm −2 , which represents a highly efficient OER electrocatalyst. The excellent activity could be ascribed to the large electrochemical surface area provided by the carbon nanoarray, as well as the supersmall size (≈10 nm) of α‐Ni(OH) 2 which possess a large number of active sites for the reaction. In addition, the phase evolution of α‐Ni(OH) 2 from NiSe 2 during the electro‐oxidation process was monitored with in situ X‐ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) analysis.