FeCoNi-Based Alloy Coatings as Low Overpotential Electrocatalysts for Alkaline Water Electrolysis.

Developing efficient, stable and low-cost electrocatalysts is a viable approach to solve the current energy crisis. It is found that increasing the surface area of the electrodes can effectively promote the electrocatalytic efficiency. Herein, the atmospheric plasma spraying (APS) technology was used to prepare FeCoNi-NiC alloy coating by adding NiC powder to FeCoNi powder with an equal molar ratio. After mechanical mixing, the atomic ratios of NiC in the powder are 25 %, 50 %, and 75 %, respectively. The results prove that the pores on the surface of the coating have increased after NiC doping, which can provide more active sites in the electrocatalytic process to promote the electrocatalytic reaction. By controlling the proportion of NiC, the porosity of the coating surface can be effectively regulated. The results suggested that in 1.0 M KOH electrolyte and 10 mA cm, the FeCoNi coating shows an overpotential of 191 and 277 mV for HER and OER, respectively, the HER overpotential of 50 at % NiC FeCoNi-NiC coating is 105 mV, and the OER overpotential is 212 mV. It is worth noting that the 50 at % NiC FeCoNi-NiC coating has a low Tafel slope of 45.78 mV dec (HER) and 44 mV dec (OER). Meanwhile, the attenuation of the overpotential of the 50 at % NiC FeCoNi-NiC coating after the stability test is almost negligible, indicating that the prepared catalyst has excellent electrocatalytic stability. Furthermore, the 50 at.% NiC FeCoNi-NiC coating catalyst has a low potential of 1.664 V at 10 mA cm in a water-splitting system. This work provids a new idea for designing inexpensive electrocatalysts.