Preparation of nickel-iron hydroxides by microorganism corrosion for efficient oxygen evolution

Abstract

Nickel–iron composites are efficient in catalyzing oxygen evolution. Here, we develop a microorganism corrosion approach to construct nickel–iron hydroxides. The anaerobic sulfate-reducing bacteria, using sulfate as the electron acceptor, play a significant role in the formation of iron sulfide decorated nickel–iron hydroxides, which exhibit excellent electrocatalytic performance for oxygen evolution. Experimental and theoretical investigations suggest that the synergistic effect between oxyhydroxides and sulfide species accounts for the high activity. This microorganism corrosion strategy not only provides efficient candidate electrocatalysts but also bridges traditional corrosion engineering and emerging electrochemical energy technologies.

Transforming Damage into Benefit: Corrosion Engineering Enabled Electrocatalysts for Water Splitting

“…[ 43 ] Recently, there are some investigations adopting corrosion engineering to fabricate advanced electrocatalysts based on metal powders, metal foams of Ni, Fe, alloy and stainless steel (SS) for OER and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) application. [ 44–48 ] It is notably that corrosion engineering possesses the following outstanding advantages: simple synthesis, effective regulation, easy scale‐up production, and extremely low cost ( Figure ). Interestingly, corrosion engineering has been demonstrated as a promising researching direction for achieving efficient electrocatalysts by the valid combination of corrosion and material science.…”

Kinetically Controlled, Scalable Synthesis of γ‐FeOOH Nanosheet Arrays on Nickel Foam toward Efficient Oxygen Evolution: The Key Role of In‐Situ‐Generated γ‐NiOOH

“…In γ‐FeOOH@γ‐NiOOH, the charge accumulation of Fe (0.158 e) is significantly larger than Ni (0.048), which suggests Fe sites are more active for OER due to the higher intermediates adsorption capability. [ 31 ] The electron localization function (ELF) of Fe and Ni in the heterostructure is 0.63 and 0.45, respectively, higher than the values in γ‐FeOOH (0.51) and γ‐NiOOH (0.38), indicative of electron localization of the metal sites (Figure 5c). [ 31,32 ] The relatively higher ELF of Fe compared with Ni further confirms the charge accumulation at the Fe sites and is coincident with the XPS analysis (Figures S20 and S22, Supporting Information).…”

“…[ 31 ] The electron localization function (ELF) of Fe and Ni in the heterostructure is 0.63 and 0.45, respectively, higher than the values in γ‐FeOOH (0.51) and γ‐NiOOH (0.38), indicative of electron localization of the metal sites (Figure 5c). [ 31,32 ] The relatively higher ELF of Fe compared with Ni further confirms the charge accumulation at the Fe sites and is coincident with the XPS analysis (Figures S20 and S22, Supporting Information). Subsequently, a typical four‐step mechanism is adopted to analyze the OER reaction kinetics of γ‐FeOOH@γ‐NiOOH.…”

Engineering 2D Photocatalysts toward Carbon Dioxide Reduction

“…There has been a growing interest in converting CO 2 to CO, hydrocarbons, alcohols, and other valuable feedstocks that are foundations of the modern industries, which is also of vital significance to mitigate the environmental deterioration and meet the rising energy demands. [ 1–4 ] Due to the intrinsic natural profusion and eco‐friendliness, the concept of using infinite solar energy to drive CO 2 reduction has fermented rising attention in artificial carbon recycling and energy conversion, which is believed to be a prospective route for the sustainable development of human society. [ 5,6 ]…”