The growing demand for green energy highlights the need for efficient hydrogen production through water splitting. Designing bimetallic electrocatalysts is crucial for this goal. Transition metal silicides are promising due to their abundance and high electrical conductivity. Here, a novel Ni 2 Si/Fe x Si y /SiOC composite was synthesized via a polymer‐derived ceramics (PDCs) route using a single‐source precursor (SSP). The SSP was prepared by modifying a high‐carbon polysiloxane (SPR‐684) with nickel and iron acetylacetonates. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR) analysis confirmed the formation of SiOM (M = Fe, Ni) bonds, indicating chemical incorporation of metals. During pyrolysis, in situ formed carbon coated the active sites, enhancing conductivity. The resulting Ni 2 Si/Fe x Si y /SiOC catalyst showed a low overpotential of 323 mV versus RHE at 10 mA cm −2 disk (0.25 mg cm −2 loading) under alkaline conditions, attributed to the synergy of Fe and Ni in improving the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). X‐ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) reveals surface reconstruction of NiFe silicide toward a hydroxide during OER. Compared to previous Ni 2 Si/SiOC systems, the dual‐metal design notably enhanced catalytic performance. This study presents the successful synthesis of NiFe silicide catalysts for OER via the PDCs approach, demonstrating tunability of properties by the nickel to iron ratio, promising potential for water‐splitting and broader electrocatalytic applications.
Zhang et al. (Wed,) studied this question.