Directed Growth of a Bimetallic MOF Membrane and the Derived NiCo Alloy@C/NixCo1-xO/Ni Foam Composite as an Efficient Electrocatalyst for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Hierarchically structured bimetallic NiCo-MOF/LDH/Ni foam (NiCo-MOF/LDH/NF; MOF=metal-organic framework, LDH=layered double hydroxides) composites were successfully fabricated by means of the in situ growth of NiCo-MOF on the NiCo LDH buffer-layer-modified NF surface. After carbonization, the derived NiCo alloy@C/NixCo1-xO/NF hierarchical nanocomposite showed excellent electrocatalytic activity with respect to the oxygen evolution reaction (OER); specifically, it exhibited a very low overpotential of 300 mV at a current density of 100 mA cm(-2). The outstanding OER activity of the composite may be attributed to the open structure of the nanocomposite, the formation of the highly dispersed CoNi alloy, and the synergistic interaction between CoNi@C and NixCo1-xO. This work introduces a new strategy for constructing advanced hierarchically structured nanocomposites for diverse applications.