Efficient Overall Water-Splitting Electrocatalysis Using Lepidocrocite VOOH Hollow Nanospheres

Huanhuan Shi; Hanfeng Liang; Fangwang Ming; Zhoucheng Wang

doi:10.1002/anie.201610211

Efficient Overall Water-Splitting Electrocatalysis Using Lepidocrocite VOOH Hollow Nanospheres

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2017 Jan 9;56(2):573-577. doi: 10.1002/anie.201610211. Epub 2016 Nov 29.

Authors

Huanhuan Shi¹, Hanfeng Liang^{1

2}, Fangwang Ming¹, Zhoucheng Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China.
² Materials Science and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955, Saudi Arabia.

PMID: 27897374
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201610211

Abstract

Herein we report the control synthesis of lepidocrocite VOOH hollow nanospheres and further their applications in electrocatalytic water splitting for the first time. By tuning the surface area of the nanospheres, the optimal performance can be achieved with low overpotentials of 270 mV for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and 164 mV for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) at 10 mA cm^-2 in 1 m KOH, respectively. Furthermore, when used as both the anode and cathode for overall water splitting, a low cell voltage of 1.62 V is required to reach the current density of 10 mA cm^-2 , making the VOOH hollow nanospheres an efficient alternative to water splitting.

Keywords: electrocatalysis; hollow nanostructures; hydrogen evolution reaction; oxide/hydroxide materials; oxygen evolution reaction.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't