NiFe LDH/Fe₂O₃/Ni₃S₂ Heterostructure with a Superhydrophilic/Superaerophobic Surface for Solar-Driven Electrolytic Water Splitting

Abstract

The development of a bifunctional electrocatalyst with high efficiency, high stability, and low cost is of great significance in practical applications of electrocatalytic water splitting. Herein, a self-supporting bifunctional electrocatalyst with a NiFe layered double hydroxide/Fe₂O₃/Ni₃S₂ heterostructure (NiFe LDH/Fe₂O₃/Ni₃S₂/IF) for hydrogen evolution and oxygen evolution reactions (HER/OER) is synthesized by the self-corrosion of iron foam (IF) and hydrothermal strategies. The constructed NiFe LDH/Fe₂O₃/Ni₃S₂/IF hierarchical heterostructure was not only beneficial to expose active sites and promote charge/mass transfer but also generate a superhydrophilic/superaerophobic surface, thereby accelerating the reaction kinetics to improve the HER/OER activity. Therefore, NiFe LDH/Fe₂O₃/Ni₃S₂/IF exhibited superior overpotentials of 226.2 and 162.8 mV for the OER and HER at 100 mA cm^-2, respectively. NiFe LDH/Fe₂O₃/Ni₃S₂/IF was employed as both the cathode and the anode to assemble a device for overall water splitting and displayed a voltage of 1.55 V at 10 mA cm^-2. The overall water splitting device was coupled with a solar cell to simulate a solar-powered water splitting system, resulting in a superior solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 15.16%. This work can promote the development of clean energy sources such as solar hydrogen production.