Electrospinning construction of a Fe–Ni-based multicomponent hybrid as synergistic electrocatalyst for water electrolysis

Abstract

The development of low-cost earth-abundant element-based bifunctional electrocatalysts for water electrolysis is attracting more and more interest. The synergistic effect between multiple components is an important strategy to overcome deficiencies of a single component and construct highly active composite catalysts. Herein, composite catalysts of bimetallic FeNi₂P/FeNi₃N/FeNi₃/N, P-doped graphitic carbon fibers were prepared using the electrostatic spinning method. Owing to the high synergistic effect among the multiple composites, the catalysts exhibited excellent performances for HER and OER. Especially, only 128 and 222 mV of overpotentials were needed for HER and OER, respectively, to obtain 10 mA cm⁻² in the case of the optimized catalyst FNNP/NCF-1:3. In addition, the catalyst also exhibited high performance, robust durability, and bright application potential in water electrolysis.