In this contribution we show that the activity of Ni-Fe layered double hydroxides (NiFe LDH) for the electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction (OER) can be significantly enhanced by systematic cobalt incorporation by co-precipitation and intercalation. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and photoelectron spectroscopy were used to characterize the LDH. Electrochemical measurements showed that cobalt modified NiFe LDH exhibited an enhanced activity relative to the unmodified material (overpotential at 10 mA cm-2 was less than 300 mV for cobalt substituted NiFe LDH). The electrocatalyst with intercalated Co exhibited the lowest overpotential (~265 mV at 10 mA cm-2), which was lower than when cobalt was substituted into the double hydroxide sheets (~285 mV at 10 mA cm-2). The origin of the enhancement in OER activity by cobalt is being investigated by density functional theory calculations.

Cobalt modification of Ni-Fe layered double hydroxide and the resulting enhancement for the oxygen evolution reaction

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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