Self-Supported Ir-FeOOH on Iron Foam for Efficient Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Developing high-performance oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts remains a critical challenge for sustainable hydrogen production via water electrolysis. Herein, we present a self-supported atomic iridium-decorated FeOOH nanostructure on iron foam (Ir-FeOOH/IF) by a facile impregnation reduction method. The self-supported Ir-FeOOH/IF electrode integrates the high electrical conductivity and outstanding mass transfer performance of IF. The FeOOH features abundant active sites, while the Ir modification regulated the electronic structure of FeOOH. As a result, the as-prepared Ir-FeOOH/IF catalyst (with the optimized synthesis time) achieves a low overpotential of 145 and 284 mV at current densities of 0.1 and 1 A cm−2, respectively, and exhibits excellent long-term catalytic stability for 135 h at 0.1 A cm−2 in a 1 M KOH solution. This work provides a new strategy for the design of low-cost and highly stable OER electrocatalysts.