Bimetallic nanoparticles embedded in N-doped carbon nanotubes derived from metal-organic frameworks as efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction

Abstract

Abstract Electrochemical water splitting is considered to be a promising way to produce hydrogen in industry. Seeking for highly efficient electrocatalysts to boost the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) which is the pivotal step of electrocatalysis is significant and challenging. Herein, we report a facile method to synthesize bimetallic (Fe/Ni) nanoparticles embedded in nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube, which is derived from metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). The optimized catalyst FeNi@OCNT achieves a low overpotential of 289\xa0\u200bmV at 10\xa0\u200bmA\xa0\u200bcm−2 with a small Tafel slope of 40.8\xa0\u200bmV dec−1 in 1\xa0\u200bM KOH, and it exhibits long-term durability. Its excellent electrocatalytic performance can be attributed to the synergistic effect among the components, including bimetals, heteroatoms, carbon nanotubes and FeNi alloy nanoparticles. This work can provide a new idea in inspiring more strategies to synthesize high-performance and stable oxygen evolution reaction catalysts.