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Partially amorphous NiFe-based bimetallic hydroxide nanocatalyst for efficient oxygen evolution reaction

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Abstract

Exploring high-efficiency earth-abundant electrocatalysts facilitates advances in sustainable energy conversion and storage. Herein, partially amorphous NiFe hydroxide nanoparticles were synthesized via a facile solvothermal method for application as a highly efficient and stable electrocatalyst to produce oxygen by water decomposition. The partially amorphous phase and tunable component ratio of the NiFe-based hydroxide nanoparticles contributed to their excellent electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity. Overpotentials of 265 and 296 mV were required to deliver current densities of 10 and 50 mA cm−2, respectively, and the Tafel slope was as low as 58.6 mV dec−1 in 1.0 M KOH. Besides, the OER performance of the nanoparticles was stable for more than 35 h. Ex situ Raman spectroscopic and electrochemical analyses revealed that the defect sites were the electrochemically formed in the metal hydroxide. The proposed approach provides a reliable method for enhancing the performance of other NiFe-based catalysts for water oxidation.

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Acknowledgements

The work was financially supported by the Scientific Research Project in Henan Province (Grant No. 212102210449), Science and Technology Research Project of the Education Department in Henan (Grant No. 21A140016), and Key Laboratory of Electromagnetic Transformation and Detection open project of Henan Province.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics and Physics, Luoyang Institute of Science and Technology, Luoyang, 471023, China

    Xiuyun An, Qiubo Hu, Weili Zhu, Lina Liu & Yongsheng Zhang

  2. College of Physical and Electronic Information, Luoyang Normal University, Luoyang, 471934, China

    Jianguo Zhao

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  1. Xiuyun An
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An, X., Hu, Q., Zhu, W. et al. Partially amorphous NiFe-based bimetallic hydroxide nanocatalyst for efficient oxygen evolution reaction. Appl. Phys. A 127, 865 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-021-05014-6

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