Self-supported Ni₃N nanoarray as an efficient nonnoble-metal catalyst for alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction

Efficient, robust and low-cost hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrodes are highly desirable for realizing the hydrogen economy. Transition metal nitrides with suitable hydrogen adsorption energy have been demonstrated as excellent HER catalysts. Here, we report a simple one-step nitridation method to fabricate Ni3N nanorod arrays on nickel foam (NF) for electrocatalytic water splitting. Large specific surface area and good conductivity endow the self-supported Ni3N/NF electrode extremely low overpotential of h10 1/4 45 mV and excellent cycle stability for the HER in 1 M KOH aqueous solution. Based on theoretical calculations, it is further verified that nitridation effectively endows NF more suitable free energy for hydrogen adsorption, which leads to an advanced HER activity of Ni3N/NF. (c) 2021 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.