Fe1-xNix(PO3)2/Ni2P Heterostructure for Boosting Alkaline Oxygen Evolution Reaction in Fresh Water and Real Seawater at High Current Density.

Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a limiting reaction for highly efficient water electrolysis. Thus, the development of cost-effective and highly efficient OER catalysts is the key to large-scale water electrolysis for hydrogen production. Herein, by using an interfacial engineering strategy, a unique nanoflower-like Fe1-xNix(PO3)2/Ni2P/NF heterostructure with abundant heterogeneous interfaces is successfully fabricated. The catalyst exhibits excellent OER catalytic activity in alkaline fresh water and alkaline natural seawater at high current densities, which only, respectively, requires overpotentials of 318 and 367 mV to drive 1000 mA cm-2 in fresh water and natural seawater both containing 1 M KOH. Furthermore, Fe1-xNix(PO3)2/Ni2P/NF demonstrates excellent durability, which can basically remain stable for 80 h during the electrocatalytic OER processes, respectively, in alkaline fresh water and natural seawater. This work provides a new construction strategy for designing highly efficient electrocatalysts for OER at high current densities both in alkaline fresh water and in natural seawater.

A Robust Strategy for Engineering Fe7S8/C Hybrid Nanocages Reinforced by Defect-Rich MoS2 Nanosheets for Superior Potassium-Ion Storage.

Metal sulfides have attracted tremendous research interest for developing high-performance electrodes for potassium-ion batteries (PIBs) for their high theoretical capacities. Nevertheless, the practical application of metal sulfides in PIBs is still unaddressed due to their intrinsic shortcomings of low conductivity and severe volume changes during the potassiation/depotassiation process. Herein, robust Fe7S8/C hybrid nanocages reinforced by defect-rich MoS2 nanosheets (Fe7S8/C@d-MoS2) were designed, which possess abundant multichannel and active sites for potassium-ion transportation and storage. Kinetic analysis and theoretical calculation verify that the introduction of defect-rich MoS2 nanosheets dramatically promotes the potassium-ion diffusion coefficient. The ex-situ measurements revealed the potassium-ion storage mechanism in the Fe7S8/C@d-MoS2 composite. Benefitting from the tailored structural design, the Fe7S8/C@d-MoS2 hybrid nanocages show high reversible capacity, exceptional rate property, and superior cyclability.