Iron‐Locked Hydr(oxy)oxide Catalysts via Ion‐Compensatory Reconstruction Boost Large‐Current‐Density Water Oxidation

Abstract

Abstract Nickel‐iron based hydr(oxy)oxides have been well recognized as one of the best oxygen‐evolving catalysts in alkaline water electrolysis. A crucial problem, however, is that iron leakage during prolonged operation would lead to the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) deactivation over time, especially under large current densities. Here, the NiFe‐based Prussian blue analogue (PBA) is designed as a structure‐flexible precursor for navigating an electrochemical self‐reconstruction (ECSR) with Fe cation compensation to fabricate a highly active hydr(oxy)oxide (NiFeOxHy) catalyst stabilized with NiFe synergic active sites. The generated NiFeOxHy catalyst exhibits the low overpotentials of 302 and 313 mV required to afford large current densities of 500 and 1000 mA cm−2, respectively. Moreover, its robust stability over 500 h at 500 mA cm−2 stands out among the NiFe‐based OER catalysts reported previously. Various in/ex situ studies indicate that the Fe fixation by dynamic reconstruction process can reinforce the Fe‐activated effect on the OER amenable to the industrial‐level large current conditions against the Fe leakage. This work opens up a feasible strategy to design highly active and durable catalysts via thermodynamically self‐adaptive reconstruction engineering.

Keywords

• electrochemical reconstruction
• large‐current‐density stability
• nickel‐iron hydr(oxy)oxides
• oxygen evolution reaction