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Synergistic design of Mo-intercalated NiSe2: a binary transition metal chalcogenide for highly efficient bifunctional seawater electrolysis

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Abstract

Developing highly efficient and low-cost catalysts for water-splitting is crucial for long-term energy conversion. Herein, we synthesized the Mo-intercalated NiSe2 –ternary NiMoSe2 through a simple solvo/hydrothermal route. The synthesized materials were characterized structurally and morphologically using XRD, XPS, FESEM, TEM, and SAED. The designed electrocatalyst has outstanding catalytic capabilities for hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions in alkaline conditions, with an ultra-small Tafel slope value of 53 mV dec−1 for hydrogen evolution and 63 mV dec−1 for oxygen evolution. The excellent bifunctional catalytic performance of ternary NiMoSe2 should be due to the electronic modulation and synergistic impact between Ni and Mo, the intrinsic metallic conductivity, and the increased active site exposure. It is shown that the ternary NiMoSe2 is an excellent bifunctional electrocatalyst for seawater splitting, producing a current density of 10 mA cm−2 at overpotentials of 105 and 285 mV for OER and HER in alkaline seawater, respectively, following the Heyrovsky mechanism with outstanding long-term stability. This finding offers a new approach towards the construction of efficient catalysts for hydrogen generation from seawater.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge financial support from the Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar, College of Engineering, Tamilnadu, India.

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  1. Department of Physics, SSN Research Centre, Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering, Kalavakam, 603110, Tamilnadu, India

    Jeffrey Joseph John Jeya Kamaraj, Lawrence Daniel Stephen Tamil, Senthil Pandian Muthu & Ramasamy Perumalsamy

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  1. Jeffrey Joseph John Jeya Kamaraj
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JJJJK and LDST: Methodology, Data curation, Validation, and Writing—Original Draft. MSP and RP: Formal Analysis, Supervision, Writing—Review and Editing. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jeffrey Joseph John Jeya Kamaraj.

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John Jeya Kamaraj, J.J., Stephen Tamil, L.D., Muthu, S.P. et al. Synergistic design of Mo-intercalated NiSe2: a binary transition metal chalcogenide for highly efficient bifunctional seawater electrolysis. J Appl Electrochem 54, 999–1012 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-023-02016-5

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