Abstract:
The development of a highly active and low-cost catalysts for OER applications is very demanding. To improve the electrocatalytic performance of the catalyst, in this work, four Ni-Fe LDHs were synthesized by employing hydrothermal method with controlled stochiometric ratio of Ni and Fe. The synthesized LDHs catalysts were systematically investigated by XRD, SEM, EDX and FTIR. The electrocatalytic activity and chemical stability of catalysts were thoroughly explored by using electrochemical workstation. It is found that among other developed catalysts, Ni3Fe1 LDH electrocatalyst having high porosity, large specific surface area and high electrical conductivity exhibits highest current density of 890 mAcm-2, least amount of overpotential of 264.3 mV, lower Tafel slope of 32 mV dec-1 and higher stability, as compared to other LDHs electrocatalysts. The enhanced performance of the catalyst is considered due to the rise of defects in the lattice. These defects give an abundance of active sites that play a significant role for the electrochemical reactions, thus, serving as OER electrocatalyst. It is concluded that the synthesized electrocatalysts exhibit electrocatalytic activity exceptionally at low overpotentials with outstanding long-term durability. The results suggest that defect generation play an important role for the development of high-performance electrocatalyst for water splitting applications.
