Efficient Hydrogen Evolution Activity and Overall Water Splitting of Metallic Co4N Nanowires through Tunable d-Orbitals with Ultrafast Incorporation of FeOOH

Cobalt nitride electrocatalysts have been investigated and proven to show excellent oxygen evolution reaction activity owing to their excellent metallic properties, but their hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) properties are rarely reported because of their unsatisfactory molecular energy level, especially the d-orbital. Herein, taking Co4N as a case study, we tune the d-orbital of metallic Co4N nanowires via rapid formation of iron oxyhydroxide (FeOOH). Experimental analyses show that FeOOH@Co4N/SSM exhibits excellent HER catalytic activity with considerable low onset overpotential (22 mV), small Tafel slope (34 mV dec–1), and excellent stability at current densities ranging from 20 to 100 mA cm–2. Additionally, theoretical assessments display that the hybridization of Co4N with FeOOH is beneficiary for optimizing and promoting the free energy of H adsorption due to the tuning of d-orbital. An overall water-splitting device assembled based on bifunctional FeOOH@Co4N/SSM delivers an onset potential of 1.48 V with excellent stability up to 4 days. This shows a new strategy for designing a high-performance water-splitting device based on cobalt-based electrocatalysts.