Volume 42, Issue 4 pp. 343-350
Breaking Report

Identification of in situ Generated Iron-Vacancy Induced Oxygen Evolution Reaction Kinetics on Cobalt Iron Oxyhydroxide

Na Yao

Na Yao

College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072 China

Na Yao and Juan Zhu contribute equally to this work.

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Juan Zhu

Juan Zhu

College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072 China

Na Yao and Juan Zhu contribute equally to this work.

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Hongnan Jia

Hongnan Jia

College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072 China

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Hengjiang Cong

Hengjiang Cong

College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072 China

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Wei Luo

Corresponding Author

Wei Luo

College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072 China

E-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this author
First published: 15 September 2023
Citations: 4

Dedicated to the 130th Anniversary of Wuhan University.

Comprehensive Summary

Developing highly efficient and low-cost electrocatalysts towards oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is essential for practical application in water electrolyzers and rechargeable metal-air batteries. Although Fe-based oxyhydroxides are regarded as state-of-the-art non-noble OER electrocatalysts, the origin of performance enhancement derived from Fe doping remains a hot topic of considerable discussion. Herein, we demonstrate that in situ generated Fe vacancies in the pristine CoFeOOH catalyst through a pre-conversion process during alkaline OER result from dynamic Fe dissolution, identifying the origin of Fe-vacancy-induced enhanced OER kinetics. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations and experimental results including X-ray absorption fine-structure spectroscopy, in situ UV-Vis spectroscopy, and in situ Raman spectroscopy reveal that the Fe vacancies could significantly promote the d-band center and valence states of adjacent Co sites, alter the active site from Fe atom to Co atom, accelerate the formation of high-valent active Co4+ species, and reduce the energy barrier of the potential-determining step, thereby contribute to the significantly enhanced OER performance.image

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