Spherical Ni/Ni₃Se₂ Heterostructure for Efficient Electrochemical Oxidation Reactions

Abstract A Ni/Ni₃Se₂ metal‐semiconductor heterojunction catalyst with a sphere structure was prepared by a hydrothermal and hydrogen reduction method. The results showed that the heterostructure Ni/Ni₃Se₂ exhibits better performance than Ni₃Se₂ and Ni counterparts for electrochemical oxidation reactions. During electrocatalytic water oxidation, the overpotential is 340 mV to reach a catalytic current density of 10 mA cm⁻² in 1.0 M KOH solution. The heterogeneous interface formed between the metal Ni and Ni₃Se₂ in the Ni/Ni₃Se₂ catalyst can accelerate the electron transfer in the electrochemical oxidation process. Moreover, the as‐prepared material is also applied for sulfonamide degradation, with the aid from hydroxyl radicals generated during water oxidation. This application is meaningful since the product from water oxidation is not desired in hydrogen production from water electrolysis. The material with heterojunctions delivered degradation efficiency up to 80% of sulfonamide antibiotics within 2 h. Therefore, the Ni/Ni₃Se₂ material might have application prospects in electrochemical sustainability research.