Ni3ZnC0.7 nanodots decorating nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube arrays as a self-standing bifunctional electrocatalyst for water splitting

Developing of inexpensive, high-efficient, and earth-abundant bifunctional catalysts for water splitting is of great significance for green and sustainable energy development. Herein, a bifunctional hybrid electrocatalyst of Ni3ZnC0.7 nanodots in-situ grown on nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube (Ni3ZnC0.7/NCNT) arrays is synthesized by a one-step template strategy with 1, 3, 5-triamino-2, 4, 6-trinitrobenzene serving as carbon/nitrogen sources, ZnO nanorods as template and zinc source, and nickel foam as substrate and nickel source. Benefiting from the introduction of Ni3ZnC0.7 nanodots and nitrogen doping to the carbon nanotubes, the Ni3ZnC0.7/NCNT-700 arrays exhibit superior hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen evolution reaction catalytic activity in terms of low overpotential (203 mV and 380 mV vs RHE at 10 mA cm−2 for hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen evolution reaction, respectively). When the Ni3ZnC0.7/NCNT-700 is served as both anode and cathode catalysts for overall water splitting, a potential of 1.66 V is needed to deliver a current density of 10 mA cm−2, and it also displays negligible degradation after 24 h of operation in alkaline solution. The present work not only provides an efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting, but also offers a new strategy to design and synthetize the bimetallic carbide.