CoNiSe2 heteronanorods decorated with layered-double-hydroxides for efficient hydrogen evolution

Efficient electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) are critical to reduce energy losses in alkaline water electrolysis. Herein, CoNiSe2 heteronanorods decorated with layered-double-hydroxides (LDHs) nanosheets are designed, in which the selenide-LDHs interfaces can boost H2O chemisorption to produce reactive H intermediate, resulting in fast HER kinetics. Such promotion in HER is further interpreted by theoretical calculation and in-situ Raman investigation. By contrast, it’s negligible for anodic oxygen evolution. Assembled as an electrolyzer for overall water splitting, the heteronanorods afford a quite low cell voltage of 1.44 V at a geometric current density of 10 mA cm−2 and remarkable stability for more than 48 h in 1.0 M KOH, performing among the best of non-precious electrocatalysts. Identifying efficient electrocatalysis on engineered heterointerfaces, this work is anticipated to open up new opportunities for catalyst design in energy chemistry.