Facile synthesis of copper selenide with fluffy intersected-nanosheets decorating nanotubes structure for efficient oxygen evolution reaction

Rational nanostructure design is the key point to prepare catalysts with superior catalytic performance, and tedious preparation method limits them large-scale application. Here, a Cu2Se with fluffy intersected-nanosheets decorating nanotubes structure were prepared by a simple and rapid solution-immersion method at room temperature. The hollow hierarchical structure on a good conductor Cu foam (CF) enlarges surface available sites, enhances the conductivity of electrode materials, then endowing the catalyst with quick charge/mass transportation and favorable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance. In alkaline medium, our as-prepared Cu2Se/CF electrode demonstrates high OER performance, especially for lower overpotential (200 mV at 10 mA cm(-2)) compared with the previously reported Cu-based catalysts. Moreover, the Cu2Se catalyst could afford galvanostatic test of 10 mA cm(-2) test over 12 h and present superior OER tolerance. These results indicate that the Cu2Se catalyst via cost efficiency and efficient solution-immersion method could be applied to large-scale efficient OER. (C) 2019 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.