High-efficiency NiCo layered double hydroxide electrocatalyst

Abstract

Highly active and stable layered double hydroxide (LDH) has attracted extensive research interest in water electrolysis. However, most LDH materials cannot fully present their performance due to their low electrical conductivity. Herein, we report several kinds of NiCo-LDH composites by coating a layer of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) via a hydrothermal reaction and subsequent electrodeposition process. The prepared NiCo-LDH@PEDOT-200 sample shows an overpotential of 52 mV for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) at 10 mA cm⁻² and 210 mV for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at 50 mA cm⁻² in 1.0 M KOH. Moreover, the obtained materials can be used as catalysts for overall water splitting, and deliver only 1.57 V at 10 mA cm⁻².