Interface engineering of NiSe₂ nanowrinkles/Ni₅P₄ nanorods for boosting urea oxidation reaction at large current densities

Deliberate modulation of the electronic structure via interface engineering is one of promising perspectives to build advanced catalysts for urea oxidation reaction (UOR) at high current densities. However, it still remains some challenges originating from the intrinsically sluggish UOR dynamics and the high energy barrier for urea adsorption. In response, we report the coupled NiSe₂ nanowrinkles with Ni₅P₄ nanorods heterogeneous structure onto Ni foam (denoted as NiSe₂@Ni₅P₄/NF) through successive phosphorization and selenization strategy, in which the produced closely contacted interface could provide high-flux electron transfer pathways. Theoretical findings decipher that the fast charge transfer takes place at the interfacial region from Ni₅P₄ to NiSe₂, which is conducive to optimizing adsorption energy of urea molecules. As expected, the well-designed NiSe₂@Ni₅P₄/NF only requires the low potential of 1.402 V at the current density of 500 mA·cm⁻². More importantly, a small Tafel slope of 27.6 mV·dec⁻¹, a high turnover frequency (TOF) value of 1.037 s⁻¹ as well as the prolonged stability of 950 h at the current density of 100 mA·cm⁻² are also achieved. This study enriches the understanding on the electronic structure modulation via interface engineering and offers bright prospect to design advanced UOR catalysts.