Vanadium-Doped Nickel Cobalt Layered Double Hydroxide: A High-Performance Oxygen Evolution Reaction Electrocatalyst...

Area of Science:

• Electrochemistry
• Materials Science
• Catalysis

Background:

• Developing efficient electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is crucial for water electrolysis.
• Transition-metal-based catalysts, particularly layered double hydroxides (LDHs), show promise due to their stability and abundance.
• Ternary metal doping in LDHs is an emerging strategy to enhance catalytic activity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and characterize a novel trimetallic NiCoV-LDH catalyst.
• To evaluate the OER performance of the synthesized catalyst in an alkaline medium.
• To understand the effect of vanadium doping on the electronic structure and catalytic activity of NiCo-LDH.

Main Methods:

• Wet-chemical synthesis of trimetallic NiCoV-LDH.
• Morphological and structural characterization of the synthesized material.
• Electrochemical testing for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity and stability in an alkaline electrolyte.

Main Results:

• The synthesized NiCoV-LDH exhibited aggregated sheet-like structures.
• The trimetallic catalyst required a lower overpotential (280 mV) for OER compared to pristine NiCo-LDH (322 mV), a reduction of 42 mV.
• Vanadium doping increased turnover frequency (TOF) values by approximately three times and improved electron transfer dynamics.

Conclusions:

• Trimetallic NiCoV-LDH is a highly effective electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction.
• Vanadium doping synergistically enhances the catalytic activity by optimizing electronic structure and facilitating electron transfer.
• This study demonstrates a promising pathway for developing advanced LDH-based catalysts for efficient water electrolysis.