Ultrathin sulfate-intercalated NiFe-layered double hydroxide nanosheets for efficient electrocatalytic oxygen evolution

Abstract

As an important two-dimensional material, layered double hydroxides (LDHs) show considerable potential in electrocatalytic reactions. However, the great thickness of the bulk LDH materials significantly limits their catalytic activity. In this work, we report ultrathin NiFe-LDH nanosheets with sulfate interlayer anions (Ni₆Fe₂(SO₄)(OH)₁₆·7H₂O) (U-LDH(SO₄²⁻)), which can be synthesized in gram-scale by a simple solvothermal method. The U-LDH(SO₄²⁻) shows excellent stability and great electrocatalytic performance in OER with a current density of 10 mA cm⁻² at a low overpotential of 212 mV and a small Tafel slope of 65.2 mV dec⁻¹, exhibiting its great potential for a highly efficient OER electrocatalyst.