Oxygen-Defect-Rich Cobalt Ferrite Nanoparticles for Practical Water Electrolysis with High Activity and Durability

The scope of any metal oxide as a catalyst for driving electrocatalytic reactions depends on its electronic structure, which is correlated to its oxygen-defect density. Likewise, to transform a spinel oxide, such as cobalt ferrite (CoFe₂ O₄ ), into a worthy universal-pH, bifunctional electrocatalyst for the hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions (HER and OER, respectively), oxygen defects need to be regulated. Prepared by coprecipitation and inert calcination at 650 °C, CoFe₂ O₄ nanoparticles (NPs) require 253 and 300 mV OER overpotentials to reach current densities of 10 and 100 mA cm^-2 , respectively, if nickel foam is used as a substrate. With cost-effective carbon fiber paper, the OER overpotential increases to 372 mV at 10 mA cm^-2 at pH 14. The NPs prepared at 550 °C require HER overpotentials of 218, 245, and 314 mV at -10 mA cm^-2 in alkaline, acidic, and neutral pH, respectively. The intrinsic activity is reflected from turnover frequencies of >3 O₂  s^-1 and >5 H₂  s^-1 at overpotentials of 398 and 259 mV, respectively. If coupled for overall water splitting, the extremely durable two-electrode electrolyzer requires a cell potential of only 1.63 V to reach 10 mA cm^-2 at pH 14. The homologous couple also splits seawater at impressively low cell voltages of 1.72 and 1.47 V at room temperature and 80 °C, respectively.