J. Mater. Sci. Technol. ›› 2026, Vol. 262: 109-118.DOI: 10.1016/j.jmst.2025.10.036

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Freestanding Fe3C twinning/amorphous NiP electrode with carbon-linked interface for enhanced alkaline oxygen evolution

Yujun Hana,b,1, Li Shaoa,1, Liyang Xiaob, Pengfei Huangb, Tongzhou Wanga,e,*, Lei Shic,*, Yuefei Zhangd, Jihong Lia,*, Wenbin Hub, Yida Denga,b,e,*   

  1. aState Key Laboratory of Tropic Ocean Engineering Materials and Materials Evaluation, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China;
    bSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Advanced Ceramics and Machining Technology of Ministry of Education, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China;
    cSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, NingboTech University, Ningbo 315100, China;
    dSchool of Physics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China e Key Laboratory of Pico Electron Microscopy of Hainan Province, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China
  • Received:2025-08-29 Revised:2025-10-21 Accepted:2025-10-21 Published:2026-08-10 Online:2025-10-30
  • Contact: *E-mail addresses: wangtz@hainanu.edu.cn (T. Wang), shilei18@mails.jlu.edu.cn (L. Shi), jihong_18@hainanu.edu.cn (J. Li), yd_deng@hainanu.edu.cn (Y. Deng).
  • About author:1These authors contributed equally to this work.

Abstract: Conventional powder-based oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts typically require polymer binders, leading to poor mechanical stability, high interfacial resistance, and limited exposure of active sites, which hinder their performance in industrial applications. Herein, we report a flexible freestanding electrode with a novel triple-phase heterostructure composed of a Fe3C twinning core, an interfacial amorphous carbon layer, and an outer amorphous NiP shell, constructed via a facile electrospinning-electrodeposition method strategy. This integrated architecture enables intimate contact between the catalyst, conductive scaffold, and electrolyte, forming a well-defined interface that significantly accelerates electron transfer and gas evolution. Benefiting from the twin-interface-amorphous synergy, the electrode exhibits enthusiastic OER activity in alkaline media, achieving a low overpotential of 225 mV at 10 mA cm-2 and long-term stability under continuous operation at 100 mA cm-2, as well as impressive performance in anion exchange membrane electrolyzers.

Key words: Twin boundary, Oxygen evolution reaction, Heterostructure, Water splitting