In‐Site Grown NiFeOOH Nanosheets Foam Directly as Robust Electrocatalyst for Efficient Urea Oxidation Application

Abstract

AbstractIn this work, a series of morphology‐controlled NiFeOOH nanosheets were directly developed through a one‐step mild in‐situ acid‐etching hydrothermal process. Benefiting from the ultrathin interwoven geometric structure and most favorable electron transport structure, the NiFeOOH nanosheets synthesized under 120 °C (denoted as NiFe_120) exhibited the optimal electrochemical performance for urea oxidation reaction (UOR). An overpotential of merely 1.4 V was required to drive the current density of 100 mA cm−2, and the electrochemical activity remains no change even after 5000 cycles’ accelerated degradation test. Moreover, the assembled urea electrolysis set by using the NiFe_120 as bifunctional catalysts presented a reduced potential of 1.573 V at 10 mA cm−2, which was much lower than that of overall water splitting. We believe this work will lay a foundation for developing high‐performance urea oxidation catalysts for the large‐scale production of hydrogen and purification of urea‐rich sewage.