Hierarchically Constructed Silver Nanowire@Nickel–Iron Layered Double Hydroxide Nanostructures for Electrocatalytic Water Splitting

We report a strategy for the surface engineering of electrode materials for water splitting by constructing a nickel–iron (Ni0.95Fe0.05) layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanosheets on silver nanowires (Ag NWs). The bimetallic electrocatalysts show excellent activity both in cathodic and anodic processes. As a result, we achieved a current density of 10 mA/cm2 at a cell potential as small as 1.56 V. Moreover, the electrodes feature great stability and even after 12 h of continuous operation maintain stable cell voltage. Excellent performance of the LDH-based electrocatalysts stems from the combination of unsurpassed conductivity and stability of Ag backbone and LDH lattice expansion upon introduction of Fe atoms.