Results
Title

Crystallinity-Modulated Electrocatalytic Activity of a Nickel(II) Borate Thin Layer on Ni<sub>3</sub>B for Efficient Water Oxidation.

Authors

Jiang, Wen‐Jie; Niu, Shuai; Tang, Tang; Zhang, Qing‐Hua; Liu, Xiao‐Zhi; Zhang, Yun; Chen, Yu‐Yun; Li, Ji‐Hui; Gu, Lin; Wan, Li‐Jun; Hu, Jin‐Song

Abstract

The exploration of new efficient OER electrocatalysts based on nonprecious metals and the understanding of the relationship between activity and structure of electrocatalysts are important to advance electrochemical water oxidation. Herein, we developed an efficient OER electrocatalyst with nickel boride (Ni3B) nanoparticles as cores and nickel(II) borate (Ni-Bi) as shells (Ni-Bi@NB) via a very simple and facile aqueous reaction. This electrocatalyst exhibited a small overpotential of 302 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and Tafel slope of 52 mV dec−1. More interestingly, it was found that the OER activity of Ni-Bi@NB was closely dependent on the crystallinity of the Ni-Bi shells. The partially crystalline Ni-Bi catalyst exhibited much higher activity than the amorphous or crystalline analogues; this higher activity originated from the enhanced intrinsic activity of the catalytic sites. These findings open up opportunities to explore nickel(II) borates as a new class of efficient nonprecious metal OER electrocatalysts, and to improve the electrocatalyst performance by modulating their crystallinity.

Subjects

NICKEL compounds; CRYSTALLINITY; ELECTROCATALYSIS kinetics; OXIDATION of water; ELECTROCATALYSTS

Publication

Angewandte Chemie, 2017, Vol 129, Issue 23, p6672

ISSN

0044-8249

Publication type

Academic Journal

DOI

10.1002/ange.201703183