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Controlling the 3-D morphology of nanocatalysts is one of the underexplored but important approaches for improving the sluggish kinetics of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in water electrolysis. This work reports a scalable, oil-based method based on thermal decomposition of organometallic complexes to yield highly uniform Ni–Fe-based nanocatalysts with a well-defined morphology ( i.e. Ni–Fe core–shell, Ni/Fe alloy, and Fe–Ni core–shell). Transmission electron microscopy reveals their morphology and composition to be NiO x –FeO x /NiO x core-mixed shell, NiO x /FeO x alloy, and FeO x –NiO x core–shell. X-ray techniques resolve the electronic structures of the bulk and are supported by electron energy loss spectroscopy analysis of individual nanoparticles. These results suggest that the crystal structure of Ni is most likely to contain α-Ni(OH) 2 and that the chemical environment of Fe is variable, depending on the morphology of the nanoparticle. The Ni diffusion from the amorphous Ni-based core to the iron oxide shell makes the NiO x –NiO x /FeO x core-mixed shell structure the most active and the most stable nanocatalyst, which outperforms the comparison NiO x /FeO x alloy nanoparticles expected to be active for the OER. This study suggests that the chemical environment of the mixed NiO x /FeO x alloy composition is important to achieve high electrocatalytic activity for the OER and that the 3-D morphology plays a key role in the optimization of the electrocatalytic activity and stability of the nanocatalyst for the OER.
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This content will become publicly available on September 9, 2026
Supercritical preparation of doped (111) facetted nickel oxide for the oxygen evolution reaction
Herein a unique NiO(111) nanosheet pre-catalyst has been doped with Fe, Mn, or Co to reduce its OER overpotential. Dopant inclusion resulted in changes to the NiO bulk and surface properties which resulted in varying activities towards the OER.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2139971
- PAR ID:
- 10637904
- Publisher / Repository:
- Royal Society of Chemistry
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- RSC Applied Interfaces
- Volume:
- 2
- Issue:
- 5
- ISSN:
- 2755-3701
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1407 to 1416
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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