The kinetic-sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER)
is the main
obstacle in electrocatalytic water splitting for sustainable production
of hydrogen energy. Efficient water electrolysis can be ensured by
lowering the overpotential of the OER by developing highly active
catalysts. In this study, a controlled electrophoretic deposition
strategy was used to develop a binder-free spinel oxide nanoparticle-coated
Ni foam as an efficient electrocatalyst for water oxidation. Oxygen
evolution was successfully promoted using the CoFe2O4 catalyst, and it was optimized by modulating the electrophoretic
parameters. When optimized, CoFe2O4 nanoparticles
presented more active catalytic sites, superior charge transfer, increased
ion diffusion, and favorable reaction kinetics, which led to a small
overpotential of 287 mV for a current density of 10 mA cm–2, with a small Tafel slope of 43 mV dec–1. Moreover,
the CoFe2O4 nanoparticle electrode exhibited
considerable long-term stability over 100 h without detectable activity
loss. The results demonstrate promising potential for large-scale
water splitting using Earth-abundant oxide materials via a simple
and cheap fabrication process.
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