Regulating the active species of Ni(OH)2 using CeO2: 3D CeO2/Ni(OH)2/carbon foam as an efficient electrode for the oxygen evolution reaction.

Three dimensional (3D) N, O and S doped carbon foam (NOSCF) is prepared as a substrate for in situ vertically grown Ni(OH)2 nanosheets. As designed Ni(OH)2/NOSCF possesses strong electrostatic interactions with OH(-) ions due to many C 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 1111111111111111111111111111111111 1111111111111111111111111111111111 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 1111111111111111111111111111111111 1111111111111111111111111111111111 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 O groups existing in NOSCF, which can facilitate the formation of crucial NiOOH intermediates during the OER process. CeO2 nanoparticles (NPs) of ∼3.3 nm in size are decorated on Ni(OH)2 nanosheets to design a highly efficient CeO2/Ni(OH)2/NOSCF electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The CeO2 NP decorated Ni(OH)2/NOSCF not only exhibits a remarkably improved OER performance with an onset potential of 240 mV, outperforming most reported non-noble metal based OER electrocatalysts, but also possesses a small Tafel slope of 57 mV dec(-1) and excellent stability under different overpotentials. The synergistic effect of producing more active species of Ni(III/IV) and accelerating the charge transfer for Ni(OH)2/NOSCF by the introduction of CeO2 NPs is also investigated. These results demonstrate the possibility of designing energy efficient OER catalysts with the assistance of earth abundant CeO2-based catalysts.