Abstract
[Display omitted]
Currently, electronic waste (e-waste) is the world’s most challenging and rapidly growing problem in the waste stream. To develop an alternative way to use e-waste (waste copper (Cu) wires) to accelerate the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) of water electrolysis, the waste Cu wires are used as a low-cost current collector. We demonstrate a simple electrodeposition process to deposit nickel-iron hydroxide (NiFe LDH) nanosheets on self-supported copper hydroxide (Cu(OH)2/Cu) nanowires grown via chemical-oxidation on waste Cu wire. Benefiting from the efficient electron transport, high mass activity, and surface area this electrocatalyst exhibits an efficient OER performance with a low overpotential of 275 mV and 390 mV at 20 and 100 mA cm−2 respectively, with excellent stability. This work provides a promising pathway to recycle e-waste into value-added resources in various energy conversion applications.