Growth of Ce-doped NiCo-LDHs on tin dioxide-modified nickel foam as oxygen evolution reaction catalyst electrode

Developing catalysts with excellent stability while significantly reducing the overpotential of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is crucial for advancing overall water splitting (OWS) systems. In this study, we synthesized the electrode material Ce-NiCo-LDHs@SnO₂/NF through a two-step hydrothermal reaction, where Ce-doped NiCo-LDHs are grown on nickel foam modified by a SnO 2 layer. Ce doping adjusts the internal electronic distribution of NiCo-LDHs, while the introduction of the SnO₂ layer enhances electron transfer capability. Together, these factors contribute to the reduction of the OER energy barrier and experimental evidence confirms that the reaction proceeds via the lattice oxygen evolution mechanism (LOM). Consequently, Ce-NiCo-LDHs@SnO₂/NF exhibits high level electrochemical performance in OER, requiring only 234 mV overpotential to achieve a current density of 10 mA/cm 2 , with a Tafel slope of just 27.39 mV/dec. When paired with Pt/C/NF, an external potential of only 1.54 V is needed to drive OWS to attain a current density amounting to 10 mA/cm 2 . Furthermore, the catalyst demonstrates stability for 100 h during the OWS stability test. This study underscores the feasibility of enhancing the OER performance through Ce doping and the introduction of a conductive SnO₂ layer. Ce-doped NiCo-LDHs has been successfully synthesized on tin dioxide-modified nickel foam, and the catalyst exhibits excellent oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance due to the synergistic effect of multimetals and heterogeneous structure.