Large‐Scale Synthesis of FeNi Nanoalloys‐Layered Porous N‐Doped Carbon Nanosheets for Efficient Electrocatalytic Water Splitting

• Published in: ChemistrySelect (Weinheim) Vol. 7; no. 26
• Main Authors: Han, Meng, Yun, Yapei, Yao, Aimin, Hu, Jiashen, Wang, Yan, Zhu, Qingtao, Sheng, Hongting, Du, Yuanxin, Zhu, Manzhou
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 14.07.2022
• Subjects: electrocatalysts; hierarchically porous materials; large-scale synthesis; N-doped carbon nanosheets; non-noble metals
• ISSN: 2365-6549; 2365-6549
• DOI: 10.1002/slct.202201464

Developing non‐noble metal catalysts with high efficiency and stability is critical for the industrial application of electrocatalytic water splitting. Herein, FeNi nanoalloys‐layered porous N‐doped carbon nanosheets (FeNi‐NCS) were large‐scale synthesized by simple formamide pyrolysis method. The framework of FeNi‐NCS was a micro‐flowerlike structure composed of mesoporous N‐doped carbon nanosheets as petals, on which FeNi nanoalloy particles were uniformly dispersed. Benefiting from the unique N doping electronic modification, hierarchically porous structure, and the synergetic effect between Fe and Ni, the FeNi‐NCS exhibited high intrinsic activity and robust structure which can improve catalytic performance significantly. By tuning the pyrolysis temperature and the molar ratio of Fe and Ni, the Fe1Ni1‐NCS‐900 displayed optimal activity and stability for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and required 261 and 310 mV overpotential to achieve 10 mA cm−2 respectively. This work presented a simple and effective way to fabricate high‐performance and stable non‐noble metal electrocatalysts for water splitting. Developing non‐noble nanoalloy catalysts with high efficiency and stability is critical for the industrial application of electrocatalytic water splitting. However, pure nanoalloy aggregate or structural collapse easily in acid/base electrolyte resulting poor durability and cycling. Herein, we combined FeNi alloy with layered porous N‐doped carbon nanosheets (FeNi‐NCS) to stabilize the metal particles and improve the catalytic performance.