One-Step Electrodeposition of Nanostructured NiCoO Films for Highly Efficient Water Oxidation Reaction.

Nanostructured nickel-cobalt binary oxides (hydroxides) with efficient water oxidation activity are favorable for water electrolysis. Herein, we successfully developed a simple and fast anodic electrodeposition route to fabricate amorphous NiCoOx films on indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate. The crystalline structure, surface morphology, and surface composition of deposited films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. The optimized NiCoOx provided a synergistic effect for efficient water oxidation, with an overpotential of 250 mV and a low Tafel slope of 48 mV · dec-1. The NiCoOx films also exhibited an enhanced long-term durability.