Lithium doped nickel oxide nanocrystals with a tuned electronic structure for oxygen evolution reaction

The electronic structure of catalysts influences the electrocatalytic behavior. Herein, the electronic structure of NiO nanocrystals is modified by doping with a small amount of Li+. The Li+ doped NiO nanocrystals show much better OER activity than pristine NiO and LiNiO2, which is a result of tuned Fermi levels, stronger hybridization between Ni 3d and O 2p, and narrowed energy band gap. This work provides a facile strategy to regulate NiO electronic energy bands to promote OER performance.