Large-Scale Synthesis of FeNi Nanoalloys-Layered Porous N-Doped Carbon Nanosheets for Efficient Electrocatalytic Water Splitting

Developing non-noble metal catalysts with high efficiency and stability is critical for the industrial application of electrocatalytic water splitting. Herein, FeNi nanoalloys-layered porous N-doped carbon nanosheets (FeNi-NCS) were large-scale synthesized by simple formamide pyrolysis method. The framework of FeNi-NCS was a micro-flowerlike structure composed of mesoporous N-doped carbon nanosheets as petals, on which FeNi nanoalloy particles were uniformly dispersed. Benefiting from the unique N doping electronic modification, hierarchically porous structure, and the synergetic effect between Fe and Ni, the FeNi-NCS exhibited high intrinsic activity and robust structure which can improve catalytic performance significantly. By tuning the pyrolysis temperature and the molar ratio of Fe and Ni, the Fe1Ni1-NCS-900 displayed optimal activity and stability for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and required 261 and 310 mV overpotential to achieve 10 mA cm(-2) respectively. This work presented a simple and effective way to fabricate high-performance and stable non-noble metal electrocatalysts for water splitting.