A trimetallic V–Co–Fe oxide nanoparticle as an efficient and stable electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction

Abstract

Hydrogen (H₂) generated from water splitting is deemed as the ideal replacement for conventional sources of energy. Catalysts play a valuable role in water splitting, especially the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Here, we report a Fe-doped Co₃V₂O₈ nanoparticle catalyst (iron-rich V–Co–Fe), which possesses outstanding OER catalytic activity with η_{j = 10 mA cm⁻²} = 307 mV, and a low Tafel slope of 36 mV dec⁻¹, benefiting from a large degree of amorphization, a rich porous structure and a high specific surface area (about 232.1 m² g⁻¹). More remarkably, the catalytic performance of the V–Co–Fe catalyst is markedly superior to commercial ruthenium oxide. In addition, the durability of the V–Co–Fe catalyst is fine. The current density collapses by less than 3 percent at 1.55 V vs. RHE after 11 h in comparison to the initial value. Moreover, this work reveals that the V–Co–Fe catalyst displays an excellent performance in both OER catalytic activity and stability, and may have the potential to be the ideal substitute for noble metal-based catalysts for water splitting to obtain affordable clean energy.