Trimetallic NiFeCo selenides nanoparticles supported on carbon fiber cloth as efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction

•A facile two-step method was used to synthesize NiFeCoSex on carbon fiber cloth.•Trimetallic NiFeCo hydroxides have been electrodeposited on CFC as precursor.•DMF solvothermal selenization was used to convert NiFeCo/CFC into NiFeCoSex/CFC.•The enhanced activity of NiFeCoSex/CFC may be attributed to NiFeCo and metal-CFC.

Trimetallic NiFeCo selenides (NiFeCoSex) anchored on carbon fiber cloth (CFC) as efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline medium have been synthesized via a facile two-step method. Firstly, trimetallic NiFeCo (oxy) hydroxides have been electrodeposited on CFC support (NiFeCo/CFC). Secondly, a solvothermal selenization process has been used to convert NiFeCo/CFC into NiFeCoSex/CFC using N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF) as solvent. The composition and homogeneous distribution of NiFeCoSex/CFC nanoparticles are determined by XRD, XPS, SEM elemental mapping and EDX images. Furthermore, SEM images reveal that NiFeCoSex/CFC has volcano-shaped morphology with rough surface and homogenously distributed on the surface of CFC, which may provide more active sites for OER. The electrochemical measurements show that trimetallic NiFeCoSex/CFC possesses the better electrocatalytic activity with the lower overpotential (150 mV at 10 mA cm−2), Tafel slope (85 mV dec−1), larger double-layer capacitance (200 mF cm−2) and long-term stability than unary or binary metal selenides. The enhanced activity of NiFeCoSex/CFC may be attributed to the trimetallic NiFeCo selenides and selenides-CFC synergistic interaction. It may offer a promising way to design transition multimetallic selenides supported on conductive support as electrocatalysts for OER.

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