V2C MXene synergistically coupling FeNi LDH nanosheets for boosting oxygen evolution reaction

Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a pivotal electrochemical reaction process for many renewable energy technologies. Due to the sluggish OER kinetics, searching for efficient low-cost non-precious metal catalysts is one of the crucial but very challenging steps. Herein, V2C MXene synergistically coupled with hypophosphite-intercalated FeNi (oxy)hydroxide (H2PO2−/FeNi-LDH-V2C) electrocatalyst is synthesized. The H2PO2−/FeNi-LDH-V2C exhibits excellent OER performance with an overpotential of 250 mV (η10) and small Tafel slope of 46.5 mV dec−1 in 1.0 M KOH electrolyte, and excellent rechargeable Zn-air battery performance with superior open circuit potential (1.42 eV), power density (137 mW cm−2) and well durability. The strong interaction and electronic coupling with prominent charge-transfer between FeNi-LDHs and V2C MXene endow the composite significant OER performance and structural stability, and the adsorption/desorption balance for the OER reaction pathway, eventually promoting the intrinsic activity. This work demonstrates the great promise of MXene-based nanohybrids as advanced electrocatalysts for renewable energy applications.