Nickel–Cobalt Bimetal Hierarchical Hollow Nanosheets for Efficient Oxygen Evolution in Seawater

Abstract

The electrochemical splitting of seawater is promising but also challenging for sustainable hydrogen gas production. Herein, ZIF-67 nanosheets are grown on nickel foam and then etched by Ni2+ in situ to obtain a hierarchical hollow nanosheets structure, which demonstrates outstanding OER performance in alkaline seawater (355 mV at 100 mA cm−2). Diven by a silicon solar panel, an overall electrolysis energy efficiency of 62% is achieved at a high current of 100 mA cm−2 in seawater electrolytes. This work provides a new design route for improving the catalytic activity of metal organic framework materials.

Keywords

• oxygen evolution reaction (OER)
• ultrathin nanosheets
• hollow structure
• electrolytic seawater
• overall water splitting
• sunlight driven