Engineering NiSe2/NiTe@Ni2.86Te2 heterostructure interfaces for enhancing energy-saving hydrogen production coupling with urea oxidation

Achieving efficiency and low-energy electrochemical hydrogen production by water splitting still faces significant challenges currently. Replacing the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) of water splitting with urea oxidation reaction (UOR) is one of the promising strategies to improve hydrogen production efficiency and reduce energy consumption. In this work, a NiSe 2 /NiTe@Ni 2.86 Te 2 heterostructure composite catalyst was successfully constructed on nickel foam via an in-situ synthesis strategy. Benefiting from the functional synergy and electronic redistribution between the NiSe 2 and NiTe components at the heterojunction interface, the NiSe 2 /NiTe@Ni 2.86 Te 2 exhibits excellent electrocatalytic performance for both the HER and UOR. When assembled into a urea electrolysis system as both cathode and anode, the NiSe 2 /NiTe@Ni 2.86 Te 2 requires only a voltage of 1.59 V to achieve a current density of 50 mA cm −2 in 1.0 M KOH with 0.3 M urea, which is significantly lower than that of overall water splitting (1.78 V). This system also demonstrates excellent stability and continuous operation in both real human urine and simulated urea environments, offering a new pathway for achieving highly energy-efficient hydrogen production while enabling the resource utilization of urea-rich wastewater.