Integrated strategy enabling concurrent enhancement of activity and stability in CoNiO₂ Electrocatalyst for alkaline...

The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a bottleneck restricting the efficiency of water splitting due to its sluggish kinetics and high overpotential. The design of high-performance and durable OER catalysts remains a major challenge, as the collaborative regulation of conductive, hydrophilic and electronic properties demands integrated strategies. This study presents a Fe-CoNiO₂/MoS-O_v catalyst integrating surface adsorption, Fe doping, and oxygen vacancies, achieving an overpotential of 299 mV at 100 mA·cm^-2 and maintaining stability for 250 h under operational conditions. Experimental results combined with theoretical calculations reveal that the adsorption of MoS on the catalyst surface activates active sites and ensures the long-term operational stability of the catalyst. Fe doping and oxygen vacancies synergistically regulate the electronic structure of the catalyst and thereby optimize the binding energy of reaction intermediates and promoting the transition from adsorbate evolution mechanism (AEM) to lattice oxygen mechanism (LOM) pathways. Furthermore, the integrated design ensures superior charge transfer efficiency and electrolyte accessibility by improving conductivity and hydrophilicity. This work provides significant guidelines and references for integrated strategy in designing the effective and durable OER catalysts.