Anchoring FeRu Bimetallic Nanoparticles on N-Doped Graphene Nanosheets for Efficient Overall Water Splitting

Abstract

Design of high-efficiency and stable platinum-free electrocatalysts for electrochemical water splitting is crucial and challenging for clean energy development. Herein, we present a kind of bimetallic electrocatalyst (FeRuNG) by anchoring bimetallic nanoparticles on N-doped porous graphene through pyrolysis of iron and ruthenium sources in the presence of the nitrogen-doped porous graphene. Impressively, the optimum FeRuNG electrocatalyst shows a low overpotential for both hydrogen evolution reaction (83 mV) and oxygen evolution reaction (334 mV) due to its layered porous structure and synergistic effect of bimetallic nanoparticles. Meanwhile, the FeRuNG bifunctional electrocatalyst achieves a current density of 10 mA cm −2 at a voltage of 1.81 V with excellent stability during the overall water-splitting reaction. This study provides a new view of the exploitation of efficient platinum-free bifunctional electrocatalysts.