NiFe Hydroxide Lattice Tensile Strain: Enhancement of Adsorption of Oxygenated Intermediates for Efficient Water Oxidation Catalysis

Abstract

The binding strength of reactive intermediates with catalytically active sites playsacrucial role in governing catalytic performance of electrocatalysts.NiFehydroxideoffers efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysis in alkaline electrolyte,however weak binding of oxygenated intermediates on NiFeh ydroxide still badly limits its catalytic activity.N ow, afacile ball-milling method was developed to enhance binding strength of NiFeh ydroxidet oo xygenated intermediates via generating tensile strain, whichreduced the anti-bonding filling states in the do rbital and thus facilitated oxygenated intermediates adsorption. The NiFeh ydroxide with tensile strain increasing after ball-milling exhibits an OER onset potential as low as 1.44 V( vs.r eversible hydrogen electrode) and requires only a270 mV overpotential to reach awater oxidation current density of 10 mA cm À2 . Theoxygenevolutionreaction(OER)isofgreatsignificancefor electrolysis cells, [1] rechargeable metal-air batteries, [2] and H 2 production via water splitting. [3] However, the fourelectron transfer process of OER is kinetically sluggish; [4] therefore,designing highly active electrocatalysts to lower the energy barrier of OER is eagerly demanded. [5] Previous dedications in designing efficient OER catalysts include noble-metal oxides, [6] perovskites, [7] transition-metal oxides, [8] sulfides [9] and (oxy)hydroxides. [10] Among the various OER catalysts developed so far, NiFeh ydroxide (NiFe-LDH) is apotential species with promising activity, [11] yet its catalytic activity is still badly limited by the weak oxygenated intermediates adsorption. Recent theoretical studies by Nørskov [12] reported the vital role of Fe in (Ni,Fe)OOH and Goddard [13] stated that Fe in NiFe-LDH can benefit the OC radical formation and Ni facilitates the OÀOcoupling, but the weak adsorption of NiFe-LDH to the oxygenated intermediates (specially *OH) is potentially the highest energyconsuming step.T ofurther improve the catalytic performance of NiFe-LDH in OER, the binding of oxygenated intermediates has to be strengthened. [14] In this work, we develop af acile ball-milling method to enhance binding strength of NiFeh ydroxide to oxygenated intermediates via generating tensile strain. Williamson-Hall (W-H) analysis based on X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy,a sw ell as extended X-ray absorption finestructure (EXAFS) spectroscopy characterizations collectively show the lattice distortion and introduction of tensile strain into NiFe-LDH via ball-milling.T he resulting NiFe-LDH with tensile strain increasing after ball-milling exhibits enhanced binding to oxygenated intermediates,l eading to am uch improved OER electrocatalytic activity.O ur work provides insights into the relation between binding strength of oxygenated intermediates and the electrocatalytic activity of NiFe-LDH in water oxidation, and at the same time,comes up with afacile and efficient strategy to tailor the Supportinginformation and the ORCID identification number(s) for the author(s) of this...

Toward Flexible and Wearable Zn–Air Batteries from Cotton Textile Waste

“…69 The peaks at approximately 18°, 26°, and 48° are related to the diffraction from cotton textile waste. 70 The peaks labeled (003), (006), (012), and (110) are well consistent with literature data for NiFe hydroxides (JCPDS card 51-0463), 71−73 indicating the formation of NiFe hydroxides.…”

The Principle of Introducing Halogen Ions Into β-FeOOH: Controlling Electronic Structure and Electrochemical Performance

“…The mechanism of structure evolution was further analyzed using crystal field theory as discussion in the later section. As usual, the structural distortion causes the change of electronic structure of material, which affects the electric conductibility and wettability of the material in electrolyte, further influencing its electrochemical performances [ 25 , 37 – 39 ]. These premise conditions provide the possibility to investigating the regular effects of halogen anions for β-FeOOH on electronic structure and electrochemical performance.…”

Applications of Mechanochemically Prepared Layered Double Hydroxides as Adsorbents and Catalysts: A Mini-Review

“…The weak oxygenated intermediates’ adsorption ability of NiFe hydroxide (NiFe-LDH) limited its catalytic activity for efficient water oxidation catalysis. A ball milling method for the generation of tensile strain was conducted by Zhou et al [65] to enhance the binding strength of NiFe hydroxide to oxygenated intermediates. High energy ball milling of NiFe-LDH introduced the tensile strain to the structure, which upshifted the d band center and made their anti-bonding states less filled.…”