Nanotechnology

Electrode

Organic chemistry

Nickel oxide

Nickel

Oxygen evolution

Density functional theory

Engineering

Catalysis

Computational chemistry

Physical chemistry

Inorganic chemistry

Chemistry

Materials science

Iron oxide

Nanoclusters

Oxide

Chemical engineering

Electrochemistry

Oxygen

Photochemistry

ACS Central Science

The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a key process that enables the storage of renewable energies in the form of chemical fuels. Here, we describe a catalyst that exhibits turnover frequencies higher than state-of-the-art catalysts that operate in alkaline solutions, including the benchmark nickel iron oxide. This new catalyst is easily prepared from readily available and industrially relevant nickel foam, and it is stable for many hours. Operando X-ray absorption spectroscopic data reveal that the catalyst is made of nanoclusters of γ-FeOOH covalently linked to a γ-NiOOH support. According to density functional theory (DFT) computations, this structure may allow a reaction path involving iron as the oxygen evolving center and a nearby terrace O site on the γ-NiOOH support oxide as a hydrogen acceptor.

An Unconventional Iron Nickel Catalyst for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction