Introduction of Cationic Vacancies into NiFe LDH by In Situ Etching To Improve Overall Water Splitting Performance

Nickel-iron layered double hydroxide (NiFe LDH) is still one of the hot catalysts for electrochemical water decomposition applications, despite its drawbacks, such as intrinsic activity and poor stability. In this work, the NiFe LDH-D1 electrocatalyst with cationic vacancies is successfully prepared by alkaline etching of Zn ion-doped NiFe LDH. The tightly arranged flocculated nanosheet structure on its surface provided a large active area. The cationic vacancies formed by strong alkaline etching not only promote the conversion of active phases such as NiOOH but also strengthen the stability of the electrode and the binding ability with oxygen so that the material has excellent catalytic properties along with alkaline long-term stability. At a current density of 10 and 100 mA cm^-2, NiFe LDH-D1 shows a small voltage of 1.56 and 1.94 V, and at a current density of 200 mA cm^-2, it performs well in a 72 h electrochemical water decomposition stability test. The present work demonstrates a simple etching strategy for cation vacancy engineering and provides an example of the construction of efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts with long-term stability.