Interface Catalysts of Ni₃Fe₁ Layered Double Hydroxide and Titanium Carbide for High-Performance Water Oxidation in Alkaline and Natural Conditions

Abstract

The electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is important for many renewable energy technologies. Developing cost-effective electrocatalysts with high performance remains a great challenge. Here, we successfully demonstrate our novel interface catalyst comprised of Ni 3 Fe 1 -based layered double hydroxides (Ni 3 Fe 1 -LDH) vertically immobilized on a two-dimensional MXene (Ti 3 C 2 T x ) surface. The Ni 3 Fe 1 -LDH/Ti 3 C 2 T x yielded an anodic OER current of 100 mA cm –2 at 0.28 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), nearly 74 times lower than that of the pristine Ni 3 Fe 1 -LDH. Furthermore, the Ni 3 Fe 1 -LDH/Ti 3 C 2 T x catalyst requires an overpotential of only 0.31 V versus RHE to deliver an industrial-level current density as high as 1000 mA cm –2 . Such excellent OER activity was attributed to the synergistic interface effect between Ni 3 Fe 1 -LDH and Ti 3 C 2 T x . Density functional theory (DFT) results further reveal that the Ti 3 C 2 T x support can efficiently accelerate the electron extraction from Ni 3 Fe 1 -LDH and tailor the electronic structure of catalytic sites, resulting in enhanced OER performance.