High-performance bifunctional alkaline water-splitting textile electrodes using monolayer-enhanced chemical reduction of integrated electrocatalysts

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Bifunctional alkaline water-splitting electrodes utilizing non-noble metal electrocatalysts for hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions (HER and OER) offer significant advantages in simplicity and cost-effectiveness. However, achieving high efficiency and stability for both reactions remains a critical challenge. Here, we introduce a novel strategy to develop high-performance bifunctional electrodes. This involves electroplating Ni on textiles embedded with Cu x S nanoparticles, followed by electrodepositing Ni x P y on Ni-coated surface. Subsequently, amine-functionalized molecules are assembled onto Ni x P y electrodes, creating an integrated structure that reduces overpotentials by inducing oxygen/phosphorous vacancies and superaerophobicity. The resulting electrodes exhibit outstanding catalytic performance with overpotentials of 50 mV at 10 mA cm −2 for HER and 250 mV at 50 mA cm −2 for OER, and exceptional durability, which significantly surpasses both previously reported bifunctional alkaline electrodes. Moreover, full-cell electrodes maintained stability for over 3200 h at extremely high current densities of 1000–4000 mA cm −2 .