Facilitating Active Species Generation by Amorphous NiFe-B Layer Formation on NiFe-LDH Nanoarray for Efficient Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution at Alkaline pH.

Searching for a simple and fast strategy to effectively enhance the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance of non-noble-metal electrocatalysts in alkaline media remains a significant challenge. Herein, the OER activity of NiFe-LDH nanoarray on carbon cloth (NiFe-LDH/CC) in alkaline media is shown to be greatly boosted by an amorphous NiFe-Borate (NiFe-B ) layer formation on NiFe-layered double hydroxide (NiFe-LDH) surface. Such a NiFe-LDH@NiFe-B /CC catalyst electrode only needs an overpotential of 294 mV to drive 50 mA cm in 1.0 m KOH; 116 mV less than that needed by NiFe-LDH/CC. Notably, this electrode also demonstrates strong long-term electrochemical durability. The superior activity is ascribed to the pre-formed amorphous NiFe-B layer effectively promoting active species generation on the NiFe-LDH surface. This work opens up exciting new avenues for developing high-performance water-oxidation catalyst materials for application.