Bimetallic Metal-Organic Framework-Derived Nanosheet-Assembled Nanoflower Electrocatalysts for Efficient Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

Non-noble metal-based metal-organic framework (MOF)-derived electrocatalysts have recently attracted great interest in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Here we report a facile synthesis of nickel-based bimetallic electrocatalysts derived from 2D nanosheet-assembled nanoflower-like MOFs. The optimized morphologies and large Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area endow FeNi@CNF with efficient OER performance, where the aligned nanosheets can expose abundant active sites and benefit electron transfer. The complex nanoflower morphologies together with the synergistic effects between two metals attributed to the OER activity of the Ni-based bimetallic catalysts. The optimized FeNi@CNF afforded an overpotential of 356 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm-2 with a Tafel slope of 62.6 mV dec-1 , and also exhibited superior durability with only slightly degradation after 24 hours of continuous operation. The results may inspire the use of complex nanosheet-assembled nanostructures to explore highly active catalysts for various applications.