Defects engineering on CrOOH by Ni doping for boosting electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Catalysis

Background:

• Developing efficient electrocatalysts is crucial for advanced energy technologies.
• The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a key process in water splitting and rechargeable metal-air batteries.
• Tuning the active sites of catalysts is essential for improving their performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate the in situ construction of point defects on CrOOH by Ni doping for enhanced OER.
• To investigate the effect of Ni doping concentration on the OER performance of CrOOH.
• To evaluate the long-term stability and activity of the Ni-doped electrocatalyst.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of Ni-doped CrOOH on Nickel Foam (Ni-CrOOH/NF) via in situ construction.
• Electrochemical characterization including cyclic voltammetry and potentiostatic tests.
• Evaluation of OER activity using overpotential and turnover frequency (TOF) metrics.

Main Results:

• Ni-CrOOH/NF exhibited enhanced OER activity compared to pure CrOOH/NF.
• Ni$_{0.2}$-CrOOH/NF achieved a low overpotential of 253 mV at 10 mA cm$^{-2}$ with a high TOF of 0.27 s$^{-1}$.
• The Ni$_{0.2}$-CrOOH/NF catalyst showed excellent stability, with minimal deterioration after 1000 cycles and 20 hours of potentiostatic testing.

Conclusions:

• Ni doping is an effective strategy for creating point defects and enhancing the OER performance of CrOOH.
• Ni$_{0.2}$-CrOOH/NF represents a highly active and stable electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction.
• This work provides insights into designing advanced electrocatalysts for efficient energy conversion applications.