Ar Plasma-Exfoliated Ultrathin NiCo-Layered Double Hydroxide Nanosheets for Enhanced Oxygen Evolution

Layered double hydroxide (LDH)-based materials are frequently used for oxygen evolution reactions (OERs) due to their promising properties in overcoming the large energy barrier. In this work, the controllably synthesized NiCo-LDHs nanosheets are treated by Ar plasma and display superior activity as well as high durability for OER processes, where there is a much lower overpotential of 299 mV at 10 mA cm(-2) and a smaller Tafel slope of 45 mV dec(-1) as compared to the pristine material (347 mV and 149 mV dec(-1), respectively). The characterization results reveal that numerous defects induced by Ar plasma on the surface of ultrathin NiCo-LDHs nanosheets, leading to many more exposed active sites, faster kinetics, and lower resistance. This work offers inspiration for the rational design of additional active and efficient LDH-based materials for OER.