Shin, Seunghun Cho, Iaan Han, Sun Kyung Heo, Jaewon Han, Junhwi Jeon, Hotae Lee, Jaehyun Cho, Min Kyung Preston, Daniel J. Kim, In Soo Shong, Bonggeun Lee, Won-Kyu 2025-12-19T06:30:40Z 2025-12-19T06:30:40Z 2025-12-19 2025-12 1936-0851 https://pubs.kist.re.kr/handle/201004/153795 We present a strain-engineering strategy for oxygen-modified nickel telluride/nickel oxide heterostructures capable of enabling bifunctional alkaline water electrolysis with performance surpassing Pt and IrOx benchmarks. The heterostructures are synthesized via electrochemical Te dissolution and mild oxidation of mechanically exfoliated NiTe2, followed by controlled strain induction through substrate buckling. Atomic-scale simulations and spectroscopic analyses indicate that Te-vacancy/O-substituted NiTe2 domains promote oxygen-intermediate spillover between adjacent active sites, reducing OER overpotentials. In parallel, strained NiTe2 domains facilitate hydrogen-intermediate transfer to NiO containing Ni vacancies, leading to accelerated HER kinetics and near-thermoneutral hydrogen adsorption. Strain modulation adjusts the electronic structure and increases active-site density, enabling stable operation at industrial-level current densities (>1 A cm–2). These findings illustrate how defect chemistry coupled with strain engineering can be utilized to develop high-performance, earth-abundant bifunctional electrocatalysts. English American Chemical Society Strain-Engineered Oxygen-Modified Nickel Telluride/Nickel Oxide Heterostructures for Bifunctional Alkaline Water Electrocatalysis Article 10.1021/acsnano.5c14702 1 ACS Nano, v.19, no.51, pp.42796 - 42815 ACS Nano 19 51 42796 42815 N scie scopus 001635276100001 Chemistry, Multidisciplinary Chemistry, Physical Nanoscience & Nanotechnology Materials Science, Multidisciplinary Chemistry Science & Technology - Other Topics Materials Science Article TRANSITION-METAL ATOMS SURFACE OXIDATION CATALYSTS GRAPHENE ELECTROCHEMISTRY ADSORPTION MULTISCALE MONOLAYER HYDROGEN EVOLUTION REACTION water electrolysis hydrogen evolution reaction oxygen evolution reaction catalytic materials transition metal dichalcogenides strain engineering electrochemical process