Amorphous NiFeB nanoparticles realizing highly active and stable oxygen evolving reaction for water splitting

• Published in: Nano research 2018-03, Vol.11 (3), p.1664-1675
• Main Authors: Liu, Guang, He, Dongying, Yao, Rui, Zhao, Yong, Li, Jinping
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Atomic/Molecular Structure and Spectra; Biomedicine; Biotechnology; Catalysis; Catalysts; Chemical reduction; Chemistry and Materials Science; Condensed Matter Physics; Evolution; Fabrication; Glassy carbon; Iron; Materials Science; Metal foams; Nanoparticles; Nanotechnology; Nickel; Oxidation; Oxygen; Research Article; Ruthenium oxide; Splitting; Water splitting; 非结晶; 水氧化; 稳定性; 反应; 水发; 催化剂; 原子比率; RuO2
• ISSN: 1998-0124; 1998-0000
• DOI: 10.1007/s12274-017-1783-0

The development of highly efficient and inexpensive catalysts for oxygen evolving reactions （OERs） is extremely urgent for promoting the overall efficiency of water splitting. Herein we report the fabrication of a series of amorphous NiFeB nanoparticles with varying atomic ratios of Fe to （Ni ＋ Fe） （XFe） by a facile chemical-reduction method. The amorphous NiFeB （XFe=0.20） nanoparticles, combining the merits of in situ formation of borate-enriched NiFeOOH catalytic surface layers, intrinsic amorphous nanostructures, and an optimized degree of Fe doping, displayed highly active electrocatalytic performance towards the OER in a broad range of pH values （from alkaline to neutral conditions）. The catalyst exhibited a relatively low overpotential of 216 mV with a Tafel slope of 40 mWdec on Ni foam and 251 mV with a Tafel slope of 43 mV/dec on glassy carbon at 10 mA/cm2 in a 1 M KOH solution, demonstrating much greater OER efficiency than that of commercial RuO2. Long-term stability testing of the OER performance of NiFeB （XFe = 0.20） by chronoamperometry （overpotential （η） = 320 mV） over 200 h revealed no evidence of degradation. Facile, scalable synthesis and highly active water oxidation make the NiFeB nanoparticles very attractive for OER electrocatalysis.