Efficient metal-free catalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are challenged for enhancing the efficiency of water electrolysis. Here, an extremely simple one-step calcination route is put forward to synthesize free-standing N-doped C electrocatalyst for the OER. The incorporation of N into carbon cloth (CC) can tune the electronic structure around the C sites for enhancing the reaction active sites and electrical conductivity, and optimizing adsorption energies for intermediates. As expected, the as-prepared CC-9NH 3 -3h electrode demonstrates remarkable OER performance in alkaline medium, affording an extremely low overpotential of 298 mV (@10 mA cm −2 ) and Tafel slope of 62 mV dec −1 , which is comparable to that of a commercial RuO 2 and other promising metal-based OER catalysts. Our findings provide opportunities to explore CC as a new class of self-supporting OER electrocatalyst, and to improve its performance by modulating their intrinsic structure.
Electrocatalytic water splitting (EWS) for hydrogen production is considered an ideal strategy for utilizing renewable energy , reducing fossil fuel consumption, and addressing environmental pollution issues. Traditional noble metal electrocatalysts have excellent performance, but their cost is high. Developing efficient, stable, and relatively inexpensive dual functional electrocatalysts is crucial for promoting large-scale EWS hydrogen production processes. Herein, a simple one-step electrodeposition method was used to grow nickel–iron phosphorus-sulfides (NiFePS) on the surface of hydrophilic treated carbon cloth (CC). The resultant NiFePS/CC with a phosphorus to sulfur ratio of 1:4 exhibited the best electrocatalytic performance, requiring only −91 mV and 216 mV overpotentials to generate the current densities of 10 mA·cm −2 in hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER), respectively. When it was used as a bifunctional electrocatalyst to overall water splitting (OWS), a voltage of 1.536 V can generate a current density of 10 mA·cm −2 . The excellent electrocatalytic performance can be ascribed to two factors: 1) the CC with excellent conductivity serves as a growth substrate, reducing the impedance of charge transfer from the electrode to the electrolyte and accelerating the electron transfer rate; 2) The large number of ultra-thin nanosheets formed on the surface of the catalyst increase the electrochemical specific surface area , expose more reaction sites, and thus improve the electrocatalytic reaction performance. This work provides a new approach for designing efficient non-noble metal electrocatalysts for water splitting.
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