Direct SILD synthesis of efficient electroactive materials based on ultrathin nanosheets of amorphous CoCr-LDH

• We proposed novel direct synthesis route of ultrathin amorphous CoCr-LDH nanosheets. • For synthesis was used facile and low-cost SILD technique. • Electrodes based on CoCr-LDH showed high specific capacity and cycling stability. • The synthesized material exhibit good electrocatalytic performance of HER in alkaline media. In this work, we present a novel facile route to direct the synthesis of amorphous CoCr-LDH nanosheets via the Successive Ionic Layer Deposition (SILD) method. The results showed that the as-synthesized product is formed as ultrathin amorphous CoCr-LDH nanosheets with a thickness of 6–8 nm. Electrochemical characterization of the electrode based on the CoCr-LDH nanolayers deposited on nickel foam shows a pseudocapacitive behavior with the high specific capacity (1080F/g at a current density of 1 A/g) and also low hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) overpotential (-175 mV at 10 mA/cm 2 ) in alkaline media. We believe that these nanomaterials are can be promising candidates for application in high-effeciency pseudocapacitors and electrocatalysts for water splitting in alkaline media.