3D Porous Amorphous γ-CrOOH on Ni Foam as Bifunctional Electrocatalyst for Overall Water Splitting

Abstract

The development of novel and highly efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts for both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is an ongoing challenge. The Cr3+ cation has a special electronic configuration (t32ge0g), which facilitates charge transfer and electron capture. However, Cr-based materials applied on water-splitting electrocatalysis is still a research void up to now. Herein, a novel amorphous γ-CrOOH was developed as a bifunctional electrocatalyst toward overall water splitting for the first time. It shows extraordinary HER activity with an ultralow overpotential of only 149 mV at 50 mA cm–2. Meantime, there is a small overpotential of 334 mV at 50 mA cm–2 for the OER. Importantly, the bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water-splitting electrocatalysis can work with a cell voltage of merely 1.56 V at 10 mA cm–2. Amorphous γ-CrOOH has effectively enhanced the intrinsic electrochemical activity via density functional theoretical calculations. Therefore, this work not only provides a new method for preparation of amorphous γ-CrOOH but also expands the types of catalysts for water splitting.