Heterostructured NiSe2/MoSe2 electronic modulation for efficient electrocatalysis in urea assisted water splitting reaction

Efficient heterogeneous catalysts play a very important role in the value-updated green hydrogen production from urea-containing wastewater. Herein, NiSe2/MoSe2 heterostructured catalyst with optimized interfacial electron redistribution and urea adsorption energies via a strong built-in electric field was demonstrated effective for the urea-assisted water splitting reactions. Efficient catalytic performance was found on NiSe2/MoSe2 hybrid microsphere owing to the combined merits such as the unique structure features, the strong synergetic coupling effects, the increased active sites, and the high amount of intrinsic Ni3+ species. Excellent urea oxidation activity was found to drive 10 mA cm−2 at the potential of 1.33 V when loaded on the glassy carbon electrode, and a cell voltage of 1.47 V was required in the NiSe2/MoSe2||Pt/C urea-water electrolyzer to drive 10 mA cm−2, about 220 mV less than that of water electrolysis, indicating a less energy consumption technique during the electrolysis. The spectroscopic and theoretical analysis revealed the effective synergy of the Ni–Se bond and Mo–Se bond that would be promising for efficient catalyst system construction.