Electrocatalytic Water Splitting with Nickel Selenides

Water splitting via electrocatalysis offers a sustainable route to hydrogen production, relying on efficient catalysts to drive the hydrogen evolution reaction at the cathode and the oxygen evolution reaction at the anode. Nickel selenides have emerged as promising electrocatalysts due to their favourable electronic conductivity, tunable crystal structures and robust stability under alkaline conditions. Their intrinsic metallic character facilitates rapid electron transfer, while surface modifications and nanostructuring enhance active site exposure. Both nickel monoselenide and diselenide phases demonstrate bifunctional activity, operating effectively for both hydrogen and oxygen evolution. In addition, alloying with secondary metals or incorporation of nanoclusters can further optimise adsorption energies of reaction intermediates, thus lowering overpotentials. Recent advances have focused on scalable synthesis methods—such as electrodeposition, mechanochemical milling and hydrothermal growth—to produce hierarchical architectures with abundant catalytic interfaces. The global significance of these developments lies in their potential to reduce reliance on precious metals, offering an affordable pathway to hydrogen economy and the decarbonisation of industrial processes.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have shown that nickel-iron diselenide precursors undergo in situ transformation under oxygen evolution conditions, generating highly active nickel–iron oxide species. This understanding has guided the design of nanostructured nickel-based selenide templates that yield oxide catalysts with markedly low overpotentials and improved stability. Another investigation has demonstrated that electrodeposited NiSe₂ films can act as bifunctional catalysts in alkaline electrolytes, achieving both hydrogen and oxygen evolution at minimal cell voltages. Directional growth of these films exposes nickel-rich lattice planes and enhances selenide covalency, reducing the energy barrier for Ni(II) oxidation. These findings underscore the critical role of structural evolution and surface termination in dictating bifunctional electrocatalytic performance.

Electrocatalytic Water Splitting with Nickel Selenides publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in electrocatalytic water splitting with nickel selenides across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Electrocatalytic Water Splitting: Electrochemical process that decomposes water into hydrogen and oxygen using an applied potential and specialised catalysts.

Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER): Cathodic half-reaction in water splitting where protons gain electrons to form hydrogen gas.

Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER): Anodic half-reaction in water splitting involving oxidation of water molecules to release oxygen gas, protons and electrons.

Overpotential: Extra potential beyond the thermodynamic equilibrium required to drive an electrochemical reaction at a practical rate.

Nickel Selenides: Inorganic compounds of nickel and selenium (e.g. NiSe, NiSe₂) valued for their metallic conductivity and catalytic activity.

Bifunctional Electrocatalyst: A single material capable of efficiently catalysing both HER and OER in water-splitting systems.

References

1. Electrosynthesis of ruthenium nanocluster incorporated nickel diselenide for efficient overall water splitting. Journal of Materials Chemistry A (2024).
2. A nickel iron diselenide-derived efficient oxygen-evolution catalyst. Nature Communications (2016).
3. Textured NiSe2 Film: Bifunctional Electrocatalyst for Full Water Splitting at Remarkably Low Overpotential with High Energy Efficiency. Scientific Reports (2017).
4. Carbon Nanotube Composites with Bimetallic Transition Metal Selenides as Efficient Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Evolution Reaction. Sustainability (2024).
5. Mechanochemical Synthesis of Nickel Mono- and Diselenide: Characterization and Electrical and Optical Properties. Nanomaterials (2022).