Ni nanoparticles embedded in N doped carbon nanotubes derived from a metal organic framework with improved performance for oxygen evolution reaction

Recently, to improve the catalytic activity of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts, some design strategies, such as the decrease of the catalyst particle size, the formation of the porous structure and the couple of carbon-based materials, are receiving increased attention in energy-related systems. Herein, based on metal organic framework (MOF), we develop an effective strategy to synthesize Ni nanoparticles embedded in N doped carbon nanotubes (Ni NPs@N-CNTs) catalyst. In consequence, the Ni NPs@N-CNTs integrates the advantageous features of NPs and N-CNTs towards OER, such as more catalytic sites, large surface area, pore-rich structure and good electrical conductivity. Benefiting from the favorable features, the Ni NPs@N-CNTs exhibits a better OER performance than commercial RuO2 in alkaline medium, which includes a lower onset potential (1.49 V), a smaller Tafel slope (106 mV dec−1). The present work opens a new window for the construction of the coupling materials between NPs and carbon-based materials to increase the electrocatalytic activity of transition metal catalysts.