Nickel cobalt oxide nanowires with iron incorporation realizing a promising electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction

Developing cost-effective electrocatalysts for water electrolysis is a promising strategy to enhance conversion and storage efficiency of sustainable energy. Transition metal oxides have been considered as alternative oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts to replace noble metal-based catalysts. Here, we report a series of Fe-doped NiCo2O4 (NCO) nanowires with different Fe-doped concentrations, synthesized by a facile solvothermal and calcinations process, as high-efficiency electrocatalysts for OER. Due to abundant catalytically active sites, high-charge transport capability and specific surface area, these as-obtained NCO nanowires exhibit low overpotential and small Tafel slope. Specifically, NCO-0.1 shows the outstanding OER performance with a low overpotential of 297 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 and a small Tafel slope of about 68 mV dec−1 in 1.0 M KOH. This study offers a promising electrocatalyst for the OER in water splitting.