Atomically thick Ni(OH)2 nanomeshes for urea electrooxidation

• Published in: Nanoscale Vol. 11; no. 3; pp. 158 - 164
• Main Authors: Ding, Yu, Li, Ying, Xue, Yuanyuan, Miao, Boqiang, Li, Shuni, Jiang, Yucheng, Liu, Xien, Chen, Yu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Royal Society of Chemistry 17.01.2019
• Subjects: Catalysis; Chemical synthesis; Coordination numbers; Nanomaterials; Nanoparticles; Nickel compounds; Organic chemistry; Oxidation; Reaction kinetics; Ureas
• ISSN: 2040-3364; 2040-3372
• DOI: 10.1039/c8nr08104b

Atomically thick ultrathin nanomeshes (NMs) possessing the inherent advantages of both two-dimensional nanomaterials and porous nanomaterials are attracting increasing interest in catalysis and electrocatalysis. Herein, we report a direct chemical synthesis of atomically thick Ni(OH) 2 -NMs by a NaBH 4 assisted cyanogel hydrolysis method, which overcomes the shortcoming of the post-etching method for NM synthesis. Various physical characterization methods show that the as-synthesized Ni(OH) 2 -NMs have 1.7 nm thickness, a big surface area, abundant nanoholes, and numerous surface/edge atoms with low-coordination numbers. The as-synthesized Ni(OH) 2 -NMs show a better electrocatalytic performance for the urea oxidation reaction than conventional Ni(OH) 2 nanoparticles without holes in the alkaline electrolyte, including a lower onset oxidation potential, faster reaction kinetics, and higher mass activity. Atomically thick two-dimensional Ni(OH) 2 nanomeshes with 1.7 nm thickness and numerous nanoholes are handily achieved by a simple NaBH 4 assisted cyanogel hydrolysis method, which show outstanding electrocatalytic activity for the urea oxidation reaction in the alkaline electrolyte.