Iron corrosion causes a great damage to the economy due to the function attenuation of iron‐based devices. However, the corrosion products can be used as active materials for some electrocatalytic reactions, such as oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, the oxygen corrosion on Fe foams (FF) to synthesize effective self‐supporting electrocatalysts for OER, leading to “turning waste into treasure,” is regulated. A dual chloride aqueous system of “NaCl‐NiCl2” is employed to tailor the structures and OER properties of corrosion layers. The corrosion behaviors identify that Cl− anions serve as accelerators for oxygen corrosion, while Ni2+ cations guarantee the uniform growth of corrosion layers owing to the appeared chemical plating. The synergistic effect of “NaCl‐NiCl2” generates one of the highest OER activities that only an overpotential of 212 mV is required to achieve 100 mA cm−2 in 1.0 m KOH solution. The as‐prepared catalyst also exhibits excellent durability over 168 h (one week) at 100 mA cm−2 and promising application for overall water splitting. Specially, a large self‐supporting electrode (9 × 10 cm2) is successfully synthesized via this cost‐effective and easily scale‐up approach. By combining with corrosion science, this work provides a significant stepping stone in exploring high‐performance OER electrocatalysts.

Pd-based materials are promising electrocatalysts for the formic acid oxidation reaction (FAOR) but suffer from poor durability due to the poisoning of adsorbed carbon monoxide species (COads). In this work, PdBi ordered intermetallic (O-PdBi) nanoparticles were prepared in an effort to mitigate the formation of adsorbed species like COads through isolating the Pd atoms. The enhanced antipoisoning capability of O-PdBi, relative to Pd, gave rise to superior activity and stability during FAOR. Differential electrochemical mass spectrometry (DEMS) and CO stripping results indicated that COads could be removed more easily on O-PdBi compared with that on Pd. In situ attenuated total reflection-infrared spectroscopy showed that the formation of COads on O-PdBi was effectively suppressed, while both the hollow and bridged COads were detected on Pd with continuous Pd sites. In addition to the higher content of Bi atoms on the Pd-Bi surface, the ordered atomic distribution has played an important role in this effect. This work demonstrates the superiority of ordered intermetallic Pd-based nanocatalysts and provides guidance for promoting stability in FAOR by precluding the formation of COads.

Developing highly active as well as durable oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts are still imperative for clean and efficient energy conversion device, such as fuel cells and metal-air battery. For this purpose and maximize the utilization of noble Pt, we present here a facile, yet scalable strategy for the high-precise synthesis of 1-nm-thick Pt3Ni bimetallic alloy nanowires (Pt3Ni BANWs). The seed-mediated growth mechanism of Pt3Ni BANWs was identified subsequently. As expected, the Pt3Ni BANWs delivered enhanced mass activity (0.546 A mgPt –1, exceeding the 2020 target of DOE) in comparison to Pt nanowires assembly (Pt NWA, 0.098 A mgPt –1) and Pt/C (Pt, 0.135 A mgPt –1), because of the rational integration of multiple compositional and structural advantages. Moreover, the Pt3Ni BANWs displayed enhanced durability (37% MA retention) than Pt NWA and Pt after 50 000 potential cycles. All these results indicate that the ultrathin Pt3Ni BANWs are potential candidates for catalyzing ORR with acceptable activity and durability. The present work could not only provide a facile strategy but also a general guidance for the design of superb performance Pt-based nanowire catalysts for ORR.

Producing high‐purity hydrogen from water electrocatalysis is essential for the flourishing hydrogen energy economy. It is of critical importance to develop low‐cost yet efficient electrocatalysts to overcome the high activation barriers during water electrocatalysis. Among the various approaches of catalyst preparation, corrosion engineering that employs the autogenous corrosion reactions to achieve electrocatalysts has emerged as a burgeoning strategy over the past few years. Benefiting from the advantages of simple synthesis, effective regulation, easy scale‐up production, and extremely low cost, corrosion engineering converts the harmful corrosion process into the useful catalyst preparation, achieving the goal of “transforming damage into benefit.” Herein, the concept of corrosion engineering, fundamental reaction mechanisms, and affecting factors are firstly introduced. Then, recent progresses on corrosion engineering for fabricating electrocatalysts toward water splitting are summarized and discussed. Specific attentions are devoted to the formation mechanisms, catalytic performances, and structure–activity relations of these catalysts as well as the approaches employed for performance improvements. At last, the current challenges and future exploiting directions are proposed for achieving highly active and durable electrocatalysts. It is envisioned to shed light on the multidisciplinary corrosion engineering that is closely associated with corrosion and material science for energy and environmental applications.