Exceptionally high OER & HER performances were achieved by rationally designing the electrode structure of non-noble NiFe materials.

In this study, we synthesized nanosized Sn-doped C12A7:e- (C12Al7-xSnx:e-, where x = 0.20 to 1) composite with high surface area of 244 m2 g-1. An increasing trend in conductivity of Sn-doped C12A7:e- composites was observed at 300 K: 24 S cm-1, 68 S cm-1, 190 S cm-1 and 290 S cm-1, at doping levels of x = 0.20, 0.40, 0.80, and 1, respectively. Sn-doped C12A7:e-, with and without reduced graphene oxide (rGO), acts as a less expensive and highly active and durable electrocatalyst in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) for fuel cells. In the case of C12A7-xSnx:e- (where x = 1), calculated onset potential and current density were comparable to the commercially available 20% Pt/C electrode. Moreover, significant improvement was observed for Sn-doped C12A7:e- (doping level x = 1) with rGO composite. The ORR current density was about 5.9 mA cm-2, which was higher than that of Pt/C (5.2 mA cm-2). Our investigation of the effect of cation doping on structural and electrical properties of Sn-doped C12A7:e- composites shows that these results manifested the feasibility of this sol-gel method for different element doping. Furthermore, the as-prepared promising non-noble metal catalysts (NNMCs), viz., Sn-doped C12A7:e- composite materials, possess intrinsic long-time stability and excellent methanol resistance toward ORR in alkaline media and may serve as a promising alternative to Pt/C materials for ORR in its widespread implementation in fuel cells.

Developing high‐performance noble metal–free electrodes for efficient water electrolysis for hydrogen production is of paramount importance for future renewable energy resources. However, a grand challenge is to tailor the factors affecting the catalytic electrodes such as morphology, structure, and composition of nonprecious metals. Alloying catalytic metals can lead to a synergistic effect for superior electrocatalytic properties. However, alloy formation in solution at low synthesis temperatures may result in better catalytic properties as compared to those at high temperatures due to the controlled reaction kinetics of nucleation and growth mechanisms. Herein, an aqueous solution–based preparation technology is developed to produce NiMo alloy nanowire arrays. The NiMo alloy shows significantly improved hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalytic activity, featured with extremely low overpotentials of 17 and 98 mV at 10 and 400 mA cm−2, respectively, in an alkaline medium, which are better than most state‐of‐the‐art non‐noble metal–based catalysts and even comparable to platinum‐based electrodes. Analyses indicate that the lattice distortions induced by Mo incorporation, increased interfacial activity by alloy formation, and plenty of MoNi4 active sites at nanowires surface collectively contribute to remarkably enhanced catalytic activity. This study provides a powerful toolbox for highly efficient nonprecious metal–based electrodes for practical HER application.