Incorporating MoO3 Patches into a Ni Oxyhydroxide Nanosheet Boosts the Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution Reaction

The electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction from H2O (OER) is essential in a number of areas like electrocatalytic hydrogen production from H2O. A Ni oxyhydroxide nanosheet (NiNS) is among the most widely studied OER catalysts but still suffers from low activity, sluggish kinetics, and poor stability. Herein, we incorporate MoO3 patches into NiNS to form a nanosheet with an intimate Ni–Mo interface (NiMoNS) for the OER. The overpotential at 10 mA cm–2 and Tafel slope on NiMoNS (260 mV, 54.7 mV dec–1) are lower than those on NiNS (296 mV, 89.3 mV dec–1), implying that higher activity and faster kinetics are achieved on NiMoNS. There is no change in electrocatalytic efficiency of NiMoNS after 18 h of OER, but the electrocatalytic efficiency of NiNS decreases by 56% after only 8 h of OER. Thus, NiMoNS has better stability. The intimate Ni–Mo interface promotes two-dimensional lateral growth of NiMoNS to form a surface area 1.5 times larger than that of NiNS, and facilitates electron transfer from Ni to Mo. This makes the Ni3+/Ni2+ ratio on the NiMoNS surface (1.32) higher than that on the NiNS surface (0.68). Moreover, the Ni3+/Ni2+ ratio on NiMoNS surface increases to 1.81 after 18 h of OER but the Ni3+/Ni2+ ratio on the NiNS surface decreases to 0.51 after 8 h of OER. Therefore, the NiMoNS surface has more abundant and stable Ni3+ sites which are catalytically active toward OER. This could be the reason for the enhanced activity, kinetics, and stability of NiMoNS. The results are very valuable for fabricating more efficient catalysts for electrocatalysis.