Bifunctional electrocatalysts that can boost energy-related reactions are urgently in demand for pursual of dual and even multiple targets towards practical applications such as energy conversion, clean fuel production and pollution treatment.

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An iron-incorporated α-Ni(OH) nanosheet array catalyst characterized by hierarchical surface nanobelts and robust urea oxidation performance are reported. The unique single-crystalline belt-on-sheet hierarchical nanostructure was identified and it endows more reactive edges for the Ni -to-Ni pre-oxidation process to boost the generation of active high-valence species for the urea oxidation reaction (UOR). Benefitting from the optimal Fe concentration, the UOR activity was further optimized owing to the favorable reaction kinetics. With the synergistic benefits of the increased surface areas, improved charge transfer behavior, favorable reaction kinetics and excellent structural stability, the iron-incorporated α-Ni(OH) hierarchical nanosheet array catalyst displays significantly improved UOR performance with both high activity and outstanding operational stability. This work could guide the design of advanced UOR catalysts for wastewater treatment and clean energy production in the future.

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Herein, excellent light absorption and oxygen-evolvinga ctivity were simultaneously achieved by doping fluorine anionsi nto hematite nanocrystals.U pon anion doping, the band structure of hematite can be effectively regulated, leading to the generation of defect levels between the band gap and remarkably increased visible light absorption. The activity for electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction(OER)ofthe hematite nanocrystals is enhanced after fluorine doping, where the doped hematite assists as an effective catalyst for photoelectrochemical water splitting. The optimization strategy proposed herein may shed light on the future design of photocatalystsfor energy-related applications.Tremendous efforts have been devoted to exploring efficient catalysts for generating clean and energy-rich hydrogen through water splitting.[1] In this research field, electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER)a nd oxygen evolution reaction( OER) attracted considerable attention recently owing to high energy conversione fficiencies and environmental friendliness, however the significant dependence on electricity restricts the practical utilization of water electrolysis.[2] Photocatalytic water splitting is another conversion pathway to transform solar energy into chemical products,b ut the low energy conversion efficiency and lack of catalysts for overall water splitting severely hinderi ts application.[3] Under this circumstance, light-assisted water electrolysis, or namely,p hotoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting has been regardeda sa potentials trategy that could combine the utilization of intermittent solar energy and electricity to realize efficient water splitting. [4] With the aid of solar irradiation, the energy dependence on electricity can be reduceda nd the mismatch between the semiconductor band gap and the electrochemical window for water electrolysis could be effectively compensated by applying ab ias to the photoelectrode.[5] However,t he low light absorption efficiency as well as the low photocurrent for current photoanode materials still impede the practical applications significantly.An ideal photoelectrode materialr equires relativelys mall semiconductor band gaps for ample solar light absorption, appropriate conduction andv alence band energies that can favor the required potentialsf or water electrolysis, high conversion efficiency of photogenerated holes or electrons to the product of water splitting, low cost, and high operational stability.[6] Among al arge variety of photoanode materials, n-type a-Fe 2 O 3 (hematite) has been widely accepted to be ap romising photoanode material for PEC water splitting that benefits from high earth abundance,relatively high photocurrentd ensity,a nd an appropriate band gap that can absorb ac onsiderable range of visible light wavelengths.[7] However,t he poor electric conductivity significantly restricts photogenerated carrier transport, and the band structure still needs to be further optimized to achieve broader light absorption.[7a] Severala pproachesh ...