The design of high-efficiency and cost-effective electrocatalysts for water splitting has recently received much attention. Herein, a self-supported Fe-doped NiMo/NiCo bifunctional electrocatalyst was synthesized using hydrothermal method on nickel foam (NF) to enhance both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). SEM observations revealed NiCo microspheres arranged in a flower-like structure, with Fe-doped NiMo rods decorating the surface. This electrocatalyst demonstrated impressive HER performance, requiring a low overpotential of 63 mV, versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), at a cathodic current density of − 10 mA/cm2 , and a small charge transfer resistance (Rct) of 2.43 Ω at − 200 mV (RHE). For OER, the synthesized electrocatalyst revealed excellent activity, with a low overpotential of 151 mV (RHE) to afford an anodic current density of 10 mA/cm2 and a small Rct of 0.43 Ω at 300 mV (RHE). Meanwhile, the Fe-doped NiMo/ NiCo@NF electrocatalyst in a two-electrode configuration needed only a cell voltage of 1.53 V to deliver a current density of 10 mA/cm2 . Overall, this work disclosed that the combination of NiCo and NiMoFe results in the synthesis of a heterogeneous electrocatalyst that offers high efficiency for water splitting and maintains good stability over 10 h.
