Highly Disordered Fe-Doped CeO2 with Oxygen Vacancies Facilitates Electrocatalytic Water Oxidation

The practical application of electrocatalytic water splittingishindered by the sluggish anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER), wherethe exploration of efficient and stable electrocatalysts toward wateroxidation remains a great challenge. Herein, we report an active iron-dopedceria (FeO x /CeO2) catalystwith a highly disordered feature decorated on three-dimensional (3D)nickel foam, which can directly serve as the superior OER electrodein alkaline media. The highly disordered Fe-doped CeO2 catalystdisplays remarkable OER performance with a low overpotential of 252mV to achieve 10 mA cm(-2), a small Tafel slope of45 mV dec(-1), and long-term durability for at least48 h with a stable structure. The superior OER activity of FeO x /CeO2 is attributed to the latticeoxygen activation mechanism facilitated by its disordered structureas well as the high electrochemical surface area. This study providesvaluable insights into the rational design of efficient OER catalyststhrough tailoring the catalyst structure and reaction pathway.

Automated summary

In this study, an active iron-doped ceria (FeOx/CeO2) catalyst with a highly disordered feature decorated on three-dimensional nickel foam is reported, which can serve as the superior OER electrode in alkaline media. The Fe-doped CeO2 catalyst displays remarkable OER performance with a low overpotential of 252mV to achieve 10mA/cm2, a small Tafel slope of 45mV/dec, and long-term durability for at least 48 hours. The superior OER activity of FeOx/CeO2 is attributed to the lattice oxygen activation mechanism facilitated by its disordered structure and high electrochemical surface area.