Pyridinic-N doping carbon layers coupled with tensile strain of FeNi alloy for activating water and urea oxidation

Abstract

Exploitation of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and urea oxidation reaction (UOR) catalysts with high activity and stability at large current density is a major challenge for energy-saving H2 production in water electrolysis. Herein, we use the pyridinic-N doping carbon layers coupled with tensile strain of FeNi alloy activated by NiFe2O4 (FeNi/NiFe2O4@NC) for efficiently increasing the performance of water and urea oxidation. Due to the tensile strain effect on FeNi/NiFe2O4@NC, it provides a favorable modulation on the electronic properties of the active center, thus enabling amazing OER (η100 = 196 mV) and UOR (E10 = 1.32 V) intrinsic activity. Besides, the carbon-coated layers can be used as armor to prevent FeNi alloy from being corroded by the electrolyte to enhance the OER/UOR stability at large current density, showing high industrial practicability. This work thus provides a simple way to prepare high-efficiency catalyst for activating water and urea oxidation.