Fe3C@nitrogen doped CNT arrays aligned on nitrogen functionalized carbon nanofibers as highly efficient catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction

Fe3C based catalysts are found to be one of the most promising electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, we report on a nanoarchitectured material composed of Fe3C nanoparticles encapsulated at the tip of nitrogen-enriched carbon nanotubes (NCNTs), which are aligned on one dimensional (1D) nitrogen-doped carbon nanofibers (Fe3C@NCNTs-NCNFs) by a scalable electrospinning technique, as a high performance OER catalyst. The unique 3D hierarchical architecture of Fe3C@NCNTs-NCNFs leads to highly exposed active sites, enhanced electron transfer properties and strong synergistic coupled effects. Fe3C@NCNTs-NCNFs exhibit an outstanding catalytic performance with a high current density (10 mA cm−2 at an overpotential of 284 mV), a low Tafel slope (56 mV dec−1), a low charge transfer resistance and strong durability in 1 M KOH solution. The electrochemical evaluation demonstrates that the Fe3C@NCNTs-NCNF composite is a promising electrocatalyst for the OER in alkaline solution.