3D nickel diselenide architecture on nitrogen-doped carbon as a highly efficient electrode for the electrooxidation of methanol and urea

The development of an electrocatalyst for the efficient catalysis of methanol or urea is essential for solving energy and environmental problems. This study successfully synthesizes nickel selenide and 3D nickel diselenide architectures on N-doped carbon using a NaCl-assisted method and selenization temperature regulation. The 3D architecture of the nickel diselenide with N-doped carbon obtained by selenization at 450 degrees C (NiSe2/NC-450) is a useful electrocatalyst for the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) and urea oxidation reaction (UOR). This NiSe2/NC-450 electrode displays good catalytic activity for MOR (high peak current density of similar to 164.68 mA cm(-2), low oxidation potential of similar to 1.33 Vat 10 mA cm(-2)) and UOR (high peak current density of similar to 136.04 mA cm(-2), low oxidation potential of similar to 1.32 Vat 10 mA cm(-2)). The strong methanol and urea reaction performance of NiSe2/NC-450 is attributed to the expanded electrochemically active area after selenization and the enhanced conductivity after N-doped carbon. This study provides a new way to prepare and utilize inexpensive transition metal-based materials as efficient and stable anodic oxidation electrocatalysts. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study synthesized nickel selenide and 3D nickel diselenide architectures on N-doped carbon successfully, showing good catalytic activity for methanol oxidation and urea oxidation reactions. The enhanced performance of NiSe2/NC-450 is attributed to the expanded electrochemically active area after selenization and the enhanced conductivity after N-doped carbon.