Two-Dimensional Layered Hydroxide Nanoporous Nanohybrids Pillared with Zero-Dimensional Polyoxovanadate Nanoclusters for Enhanced Water Oxidation Catalysis

Abstract

The oxygen-evolution reaction (OER) is critical in electrochemical water splitting and requires an efficient, sustainable, and cheap catalyst for successful practical applications. A common development strategy for OER catalysts is to search for facile routes for the synthesis of new catalytic materials with optimized chemical compositions and structures. Here, nickel hydroxide Ni(OH)(2) 2D nanosheets pillared with 0D polyoxovanadate (POV) nanoclusters as an OER catalyst that can operate in alkaline media are reported. The intercalation of POV nanoclusters into Ni(OH)(2) induces the formation of a nanoporous layer-by-layer stacking architecture of 2D Ni(OH)(2) nanosheets and 0D POV with a tunable chemical composition. The nanohybrid catalysts remarkably enhance the OER activity of pristine Ni(OH)(2). The present findings demonstrate that the intercalation of 0D POV nanoclusters into Ni(OH)(2) is effective for improving water oxidation catalysis and represents a potential method to synthesize novel, porous hydroxide-based nanohybrid materials with superior electrochemical activities.