Interface engineering of Ni/NiO heterostructures with abundant catalytic active sites for enhanced methanol oxidation electrocatalysis

• Published in: Journal of colloid and interface science Vol. 630; pp. 570 - 579
• Main Authors: Zhang, Kefu, Han, Yulan, Qiu, Jun, Ding, Xiang, Deng, Yongqi, Wu, Yihan, Zhang, Guozhen, Yan, Lifeng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 15.01.2023
• Subjects: Electrocatalysts; Heterostructures; Interface effect; Methanol oxidation reaction; Ni/NiO; Ni/NiO; Methanol oxidation reaction; Interface effect; Electrocatalysts; Heterostructures
• ISSN: 0021-9797; 1095-7103
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2022.10.057

[Display omitted] •Interface engineering strategy for the design of novel 3D Ni/NiO/RG catalyst.•Ni/NiO interface contributes to the availability of multiple active sites and promotes reaction kinetics for methanol oxidation.•3D Ni/NiO/RG catalyst exhibit the superior catalytic activity (79.21 mA cm−2) and stability towards MOR.•Theoretical calculations intrinsically demonstrate the Ni/NiO interface is critical for enhancing the electrocatalytic properties. Designing efficient and stable non-noble metal electrocatalysts with good performance in reaction kinetics is desirable yet challenging for the study of methanol oxidation reaction (MOR). Herein, we have reported well-defined nanoscale nickel/nickel oxide (Ni/NiO) heterostructures supported by a three-dimensional (3D) porous graphene network (RG) via a delicate interface engineering technique. The as-prepared 3D Ni/NiO/RG composites achieve outstanding catalytic activity (79.5 mA cm−2/1262.1 mA mg−1) for MOR in alkaline solution, outperforming most reported non-precious catalysts. A combined experimental and computational investigation shows that such a good performance benefits from the specific Ni/NiO interface, which not only bears abundant accessible active sites but also improves the energetics of MOR. Moreover, this interface contributes to favorable kinetic and improved structural stability during electrocatalysis, ensuring superior catalytic performance after 1000 consecutive cyclic voltammetry tests for MOR. Our work demonstrates the potential of interface engineering in the rational design of efficient precious-metal-free electrocatalysts.