Electrodeposited Cobalt-Doped NiFe Layered Double Hydroxide for Efficient OER at High Current

One important tactic for raising the overall water splitting efficiency is the development of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts that are stable, highly active, and reasonably priced. Transition metal layered double hydroxides (LDHs) display comparatively strong OER catalytic activity; however, their restricted active sites, poor conductivity, and stability impede large-scale industrial manufacturing and application. Cobalt is introduced into nickel–iron layered double hydroxide (NiFe LDH) by electrodeposition using nickel foam (NF) as a conductive substrate in this work, creating the ternary cobalt-doped nickel–iron layered double hydroxide grown on nickel foam (Co–NiFe LDH/NF) with a three-dimensional lamellar structure. Oxygen vacancies were created in the electrocatalyst by cobalt doping, which also changed the charge density of the Ni–Fe sites. The increased intermetallic synergistic effect led to a considerable improvement in the OER performance of Co–NiFe LDH/NF. The Co–NiFe LDH/NF shows relatively low overpotentials of 258 and 288 mV to reach 100 and 200 mA cm–2 in 1 M KOH. It has outstanding stability and operates steadily and consistently for 48 h in the alkaline electrolyte without experiencing any noticeable current degradation. A fundamental framework for the synthesis of efficient and reasonably priced transition metal-based electrocatalysts is established by this work. This advancement is anticipated to improve the efficiency of OER catalysts and has great promise for industrial applications involving high current density in overall water splitting.