The development of a non-precious metal-based stable and cost-effective bifunctional electrocatalyst remains a significant challenge for the production of hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2) through water splitting. Although some progress...

The spherical-type NiSe 2 nanoparticles encapsulated in a N-doped carbon (NC) matrix (NiSe 2 -T@NC, temperature (T) = 400−800 °C) are derived from a 1D Ni-MOF precursor of the formula [Ni(BPY)(DDE)] [(BPY = 2,2′-bipyridyl), (DDE = 4,4′dicarboxy diphenyl ether)] via a facile solvothermal technique followed by annealing at different temperatures and selenylation strategies. The combined effect of a NC matrix and the Ni nanoparticles has been optimized during varied annealing processes with subsequent selenylation, leading to the formation of the series NiSe 2 -400@NC, NiSe 2 -500@NC, NiSe 2 -600@NC, NiSe 2 -700@NC, and NiSe 2 -800@NC, respectively. The variation of annealing temperature plays a vital role in optimizing the catalytic behavior of the NiSe 2 -T@NCs. Among different high-temperature annealed products, NiSe 2 -600@NC shows superior electrocatalytic performance because of the unique spherical-type morphology and higher specific surface area (57.95 m 2 g −1 ) that provides a large number of electrochemical active sites. The synthesized material exhibits a lower overpotential of 196 mV to deliver 10 mA cm −2 current density, a small Tafel slope of 45 mV dec −1 for better surface kinetics, and outstanding durability in an acidic solution, respectively. Consequently, the post stability study of the used electrocatalyst gives insight into surface phase analysis. Therefore, we presume that the synthesized 1D MOF precursor derived NiSe 2 nanoparticles encapsulated in a NC matrix has excellent potential to replace the noble-metal-based electrocatalyst for enhanced hydrogen evolution through simple water electrolysis.

The quest for efficient and inexpensive electrocatalyst via a convenient procedure is pivotal for the development of reliable energy conversion and storage device. Herein, we design a novel strategy for...