F-decoration-induced partially amorphization of nickel iron layered double hydroxides for high efficiency urea oxidation reaction

The urea oxidation reaction (UOR) has been well-acknowledged as one of the promising alternatives for hydrogen production through electrochemical water splitting system because of the more favorable thermodynamic potential. But the shortage of cost-effective electrocatalysts with high catalytic activity and durability restricts its practical development. Herein, the partially amorphous fluorine-decorated nickel iron layered double hydroxides (NiFe-F) is constructed via a low-temperature fluoridation method. Our study found that HF acid etching of NiFe LDH precursor resulted in the partially amorphous feature and abundant oxygen vacancies, providing rich reaction sites. Simultaneously, the formation of ionic metal-F bond makes it easier to form high-valence metal oxygen hydroxide active sites. Specifically, the as-prepared NiFe-F-4 electrode demonstrates a superb mass activity of 1290 mA mg−1 at 1.6 V vs. RHE. Further experiments found that amorphous structure and F decorating decreased the activation energy of UOR from 30.71 kJ mol−1 (crystalline NiFe-F-4) to 20.17 kJ mol−1 (amorphous NiFe-F-4), leading to a rapid dynamic with a small Tafel slope of 31 mV dec-1. Moreover, NiFe-F-4 casts remarkable long-term durability for 40 h without performance decay. This work holds great promise to develop advanced electrocatalysts for pollution treatment of urea-rich wastewater and energy-saving H2 production.