Synergistic Coupling of NiTe Nanoarrays with FeOOH Nanosheets for Highly Efficient Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Abstract Hydrogen is the most promising alternative energy source in the face of energy crisis, and water splitting is a green strategy for hydrogen generation. The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is the essential half‐reaction in electrochemical water splitting, and thus development and exploration of electrocatalysts with excellent performance are vital to prompt the application of OER. Due to the unique electronic properties of NiTe and strong synergistic interaction between NiTe and FeOOH, NiTe@FeOOH hybrid nanorods were successfully fabricated on Ni foams (NF) by a hydrothermal reaction step and another in‐situ growth step for the first time without consuming any extra energy. The 3D structure of the NiTe@FeOOH/NF was confirmed by powder X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) mapping technologies. Electrochemical measurements showed that the as‐prepared NiTe@FeOOH/NF needs only an overpotential of 241 mV to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm −2 in 1.0 M KOH and requires 1.341 V to drive 10 mA cm −2 in 1 M KOH with a 0.33 M urea, showing excellent long‐term stability. The NiTe@FeOOH/NF as the bifunctional electrocatalyst in an electrolyzer shows high efficiency with a cell voltage of 1.50 V at 10 mA cm −2 . This work can provide a new efficient method to construct highly active and cost‐effective OER catalysts.