In-situ surface self-reconstruction in ternary transition metal dichalcogenide nanorod arrays enables efficient electrocatalytic oxygen evolution

• Published in: Journal of energy chemistry Vol. 55; pp. 10 - 16
• Main Authors: Chen, Qiang, Fu, Yulu, Jin, Jialun, Zang, Wenjie, Liu, Xiong, Zhang, Xiangyong, Huang, Wenzhong, Kou, Zongkui, Wang, John, Zhou, Liang, Mai, Liqiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.04.2021
• Subjects: Oxygen evolution reaction; Surface self-reconstruction; Transition metal dichalcogenide; Transition metal oxyhydroxide; Water splitting; Transition metal oxyhydroxide; Water splitting; Surface self-reconstruction; Oxygen evolution reaction; Transition metal dichalcogenide
• ISSN: 2095-4956
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jechem.2020.07.005

Ternary transition metal Fe-Co-Ni dichalcogenide nanorod containing earth-abundant elements (FCND) is designed to enhance OER kinetics by in-situ electrochemical surface self-reconstruction. [Display omitted] •Ternary transition metal dichalcogenide nanorod arrays (FCND) constructs a highly active and stable precatalyst.•OER active origin of FCND was understood by potential-dependent structural studies.•The ternary metal oxyhydroxides on the surfaces of FCND are in situ electrochemical derived.•A multielemental synergy mechanism on the surfaces are obtained during OER. Water splitting has received more and more attention because of its huge potential to generate clean and renewable energy. The highly active and durable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts play a decisive factor in achieving efficient water splitting. The identification of authentic active origin under the service conditions can prompt a more reasonable design of catalysts together with well-confined micro-/nano-structures to boost the efficiency of water splitting. Herein, Fe, Co, and Ni ternary transition metal dichalcogenide (FCND) nanorod arrays on Ni foam are purposely designed as an active and stable low-cost OER pre-catalyst for the electrolysis of water in alkaline media. The optimized FCND catalyst demonstrated a lower overpotential than the binary and unary counterparts, and a 27-fold rise in kinetic current density at the overpotential of 300 mV compared to the nickel dichalcogenide counterpart. Raman spectra and other structural characterizations at different potentials reveal that the in-situ surface self-reconstruction from FCND to ternary transition metal oxyhydroxides (FCNOH) on catalyst surfaces initiated at about 1.5 V, which is identified as the origin of OER activity. The surface self-reconstruction towards FCNOH also enables excellent stability, without fading upon the test for 50 h.