Construction of hierarchical IrTe nanotubes with assembled nanosheets for overall water splitting electrocatalysis

Abstract

The design of efficient bifunctional catalysts for the hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions is significant for electrochemical water splitting. Here, hierarchical IrTe nanotubes (NTs) with assembled nanosheets have been prepared through a replacement reaction between Te nanowires and metal precursors in the presence of formic acid. Owing to the hollow nanostructure and nanosheet assemblies, the IrTe NTs can be used as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for effective oxygen and hydrogen evolution reactions in acidic media. More importantly, the IrTe NTs exhibit high-efficiency performance towards electrocatalytic overall water splitting in 0.5 M H₂SO₄ solution, reaching 10 mA cm⁻² at a cell voltage of only 1.53 V. This study proposes a powerful approach to fabricate active bifunctional electrocatalysts for overall water splitting.