Paper
Journal of Materials Chemistry A
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merits contribute to enhancing the catalytic performance of V–
Energy Environ. Sci., 2018, 11, 1890.
Ni3N/NF.
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4 Conclusions
In summary, porous V doped Ni3N nanosheet arrays on NF were
synthesized by a hydrothermal and subsequent nitridation
process. Beneting from the abundant catalytically active sites,
high electrical conductivity, and optimized DGH*, the V–Ni3N/
NF electrode exhibits outstanding catalytic activity for the
HER with low overpotentials of 83 and 90 mV at 10 mA cmꢀ2 in
an alkaline and neutral electrolyte, respectively, and it also
displays striking catalytic activity for the UOR. Based on the
prominent bifunctional performance of the V–Ni3N/NF elec-
trode, a two-electrode urea electrolyzer was constructed which
needs a low cell voltage of 1.416 V to afford 10 mA cmꢀ2, which
is 0.180 V smaller than that required in water electrolysis. This
work creates an avenue to rationally design and fabricate the
promising 3D self-supported transition-metal nitride electrode
for urea-assisted energy-efficient H2 production.
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Conflicts of interest
There are no conicts to declare.
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Acknowledgements
This work was nancially supported by the Doctoral Program of
Liaocheng University (No. 318051947) and the development
project of Youth Innovation Team in Shandong Colleges and
Universities (No. 2019KJC031).
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