Nickel foam-loaded NiFe LDH/Mo-NiCoP heterostructure nanoarrays as highly efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts for overall water splitting

Designing bifunctional electrocatalysts with high efficiency and low cost for water splitting is a crucial research topic in clean energy technology. In this work, we successfully constructed a hierarchical heterostructure composed of NiFe layered double hydroxide (LDH) and Mo-doped NiCoP supported on nickel foam (NF) through a combined hydrothermal-phosphating-electrodeposition approach. Mo doping induces significant morphological evolution of NiCoP, transforming it into larger and coarser nanowires, while NiFe LDH nanoflowers uniformly decorate the Mo-NiCoP nanowire surfaces to form an integrated heterostructure. Benefited from the constructive collaboration of the NiFe LDH nanoflowers and Mo-NiCoP nanowires hierarchical heterostructure, the NiFe LDH/Mo-NiCoP/NF exhibits outstanding bifunctional activity, requiring only 81 mV for HER and 220 mV for OER to achieve 10 mA cm-2. When employed in overall water splitting, the electrocatalyst demonstrates exceptional durability, maintaining stable operation at 10 mA cm-2 with a low cell voltage of 1.49 V for over 80 hours without degradation. This study presents a sophisticated strategy for the development of efficient phosphide heterostructures composed of non-noble metals, serving as bifunctional electrocatalysts for comprehensive alkaline water splitting.