Water splitting over an ultrasonically synthesized NiFe/MoO3@CFP electrocatalyst

The development of non-precious metal catalysts exhibiting high performance towards both oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) has been recognized as one of the ultimate goals in water electrolysis research. Herein, we report on the synthesis of an efficient OER and HER catalyst, NiFe/MoO3@CFP, using a unique synthetic technique that combines ultrasonic synthesis and electrochemical deposition. The Mo-based compound, used as a template for the NiFe structure, was formed during the ultrasonication, and cavitation bubbles generated via ultrasonication were found to play a key role for improving the catalyst performance. NiFe/MoO3@CFP achieved a current density of 20 mA cm−2 for the OER and HER at low overpotentials of 251 and 204 mV, respectively. It was found that a cell potential of 1.589 V was required to achieve 10 mA cm−2 in the overall water splitting process. This study presents the effective preparation of a catalyst using ultrasound technology, which has rarely been used, suggesting its potential for future applications.