Phase selective synthesis of nickel silicide nanocrystals in molten salts for electrocatalysis of the oxygen evolution reaction

Ram Kumar; Mounib Bahri; Yang Song; Francisco Gonell; Cyril Thomas; Ovidiu Ersen; Clément Sanchez; Christel Laberty-Robert; David Portehault

doi:10.1039/d0nr04284f

Phase selective synthesis of nickel silicide nanocrystals in molten salts for electrocatalysis of the oxygen evolution reaction

Nanoscale. 2020 Jul 23;12(28):15209-15213. doi: 10.1039/d0nr04284f.

Authors

Ram Kumar¹, Mounib Bahri², Yang Song¹, Francisco Gonell¹, Cyril Thomas³, Ovidiu Ersen², Clément Sanchez¹, Christel Laberty-Robert¹, David Portehault¹

Affiliations

¹ Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Collège de France, Laboratoire de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Paris (CMCP), 4 place Jussieu, F-75005, Paris, France. david.portehault@sorbonne-universite.fr.
² Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, Institut de physique et de chimie des Matériaux de Strasbourg (IPCMS), 23 rue du Loess, 67200 Strasbourg, France.
³ Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Laboratoire de Réactivité de la Surface (LRS), 4 place Jussieu, F-75005, Paris, France.

PMID: 32638791
DOI: 10.1039/d0nr04284f

Abstract

We report phase selective synthesis of intermetallic nickel silicide nanocrystals in inorganic molten salts. NiSi and Ni2Si nanocrystals are obtained by reacting a nickel(ii) salt and sodium silicide Na4Si4 in the molten LiI-KI inorganic eutectic salt mixture. We report that nickel silicide nanocrystals are precursors to active electrocatalysts in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and may be low-cost alternatives to iridium-based electrocatalysts.