Bamboo-like nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes encapsulated with NiFeP nanoparticles and their efficient catalysis in the oxygen evolution reaction

Abstract There is an urgent need to develop efficient, durable, earth-abundant, and low-cost electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) that occurs during the electrochemical splitting of water. Herein, we develop a method to synthesize uniform nitrogen-doped bamboo-like carbon nanotubes (NBCNT) encapsulated with NiFeP nanoparticles (NiFeP@NBCNT). When the as-fabricated nanocomposites are used to catalyze the OER, it exhibits exceptionally high activity in alkaline solution (180 mV @10 mA cm−2 and a low Tafel slope of 59 mV dec−1) and outstanding long-term stability. The turnover frequency (TOF) for NiFeP@NBCNT at an overpotential of 350 mV are calculated to 3.38 s−1. The OER reaction mechanism on the NiFeP@NBCNT modified electrode is explored by comparing the XPS spectra before and after electrochemical OER testing. The excellent catalytic properties make NiFeP@NBCNT a promising candidate for electrochemical catalysis in water splitting.