NiCo layered double hydroxides derived Ni0.67Co0.33(PO3)2 as stable and efficient electrocatalysts for overall water splitting

Abstract The synthesis of highly efficient non-noble bifunctional electrocatalysts for both hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in the same electrolyte is important for the industrial application of electrocatalytic water splitting. Herein, non-noble bifunctional electrocatalyst Ni0.67Co0.33(PO3)2 nets with optimized morphology were successfully synthesized. Owing to the micropores with the accelerated electrolyte and gases transfer and nanopores architecture with more exposed active edge sites, the self-supported Ni0.67Co0.33(PO3)2-12 h electrode exhibits a superior water splitting performance. Impressively, the Ni0.67Co0.33(PO3)2-12 h electrode only needs a cell voltage of 1.46 V to achieve 10 mA/cm2 and shows over 22 h stability at 10, 50 and 100 mA/cm2, respectively. This present work suggests a unique and earth abundant material synthesis method for water electrolysis, which has broad prospects for practical water splitting application.