OER performance enhancement via surface acoustic waves: Dependence on nickel foil thickness and radio-frequency parameters

In electrocatalytic water splitting, the oxygen evolution reaction suffers from high-energy consumption, hindering renewable energy conversion. As an emerging strategy, physical field regulation is limited by traditional fields, such as energy loss, difficult regulation or material dependency. However, surface acoustic waves (SAWs) show precise regulation potential due to surface energy localization. This study modulates the OER performance of nickel foils in alkaline media using SAWs. After treatment with 10 MHz-5 dBm SAWs, 4 [Formula: see text]m nickel foil (NF-4) shows a 60 mV overpotential reduction at 10 mA cm −2 , doubling the 30 mV reduction of 10 [Formula: see text]m nickel foil (NF-10). Its Tafel slope decreases by 26.6 mV dec −1 , significantly higher than that of NF-10 (15.7 mV dec −1 ). Further investigation into SAWs parameter modulation reveals a finding: High-frequency SAWs accelerate bubble stripping by shortening the vibration period and high-power SAWs induce lattice resonance to expose more active sites. This work first establishes a SAWs thickness-dependent catalytic interface modulation model, uncovering the driving mechanism of acoustic energy dynamic regulation for electrocatalytic systems.