Qian, Jingxia, Shu, Qingli, He, Bin, Hua, Yinfeng, Ge, Xueli, Sun, Dongping, Liu, Wen, Zhang, Qi, and Zhou, Lu
The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a pivotal process in water electrolysis systems, yet developing cost-effective and highly active OER electrocatalysts from earth-abundant materials through straightforward methods remains a formidable challenge. In this study, FeCo oxides and their fluorides are synthesized using a one-step room-temperature process followed by fluorination with fluorine gas. We compared the OER performance of Fe, Co, and FeCo oxides and investigated the impact of fluorine doping on their physical properties and OER efficiency. Results revealed that the FeCo–O bimetallic oxide exhibited an overpotential of 370 mV in an alkaline electrolyte at a current density of 10 mA/cm2, significantly surpassing the performance of monometallic Fe–O (1 V) and Co–O (467 mV). Fluorine modification markedly enhanced the OER activity of these materials, with Fe-OF at 570 mV, Co-OF at 330 mV, and FeCo-OF at 285 mV. Notably, FeCo-OF demonstrated a stable overpotential lower than commercial RuO 2 (289 mV) during a continuous 12 h OER test. Electrochemical analyses and spectral characterizations indicated that fluorine ion electronic regulation facilitated efficient electrocatalytic active sites in the spent FeCo-OF catalyst through in situ self-reconstruction, leading to its stable and superior OER performance. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations confirmed that fluorine modification of the bimetallic oxides decreased the O* Gibbs free energy from 4.86 to 2.44 eV, thereby enhancing the kinetics of the OER reaction. Prepared metal oxides (Fe–O, Co–O, FeCo–O), fluorine-doped metal oxides (Fe-OF, Co-OF, FeCo-OF), and fluorine-decorated FeCo bimetallic oxides (FeCo-OF) exhibit excellent OER performance (η 10 = 285 mV). DFT calculations suggest that fluorine decoration reduces the Gibbs free energies of O⁎ adsorption (Δ G O⁎) and enhances OER reaction kinetics under alkaline conditions. [Display omitted] • Fluorine decoration enhances OER performance in Fe, Co, and FeCo catalysts. • Electronic regulation of fluoride facilitates FeCo-OF surface self-reconstruction. • FeCo-OF exhibits excellent OER performance (η 10 = 285 mV). • Fluorine decoration reduces O* Gibbs free energy and promote OER reaction kinetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]