A novel composite electrode for oxygen evolution reaction.

FeOOH nanowires were prepared and characterized with X-ray diffraction spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. A composite electrode consisting of FeOOH and Ni foam (FeOOH/Ni-foam) was fabricated, and its catalytic performance for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) was evaluated and compared with nanowire NiCoO/Ni-foam electrode. The mass current density of OER on FeOOH/Ni-foam is around three times of that on NiCoO/Ni-foam. Ni foam played a key role for the high activity of the FeOOH/Ni-foam. A synergistic mechanism of FeOOH and Ni was proposed to account for the superior catalytic performance of the FeOOH/Ni-foam electrode. Considering the low cost, abundant resource and environment-benign property of FeOOH, the FeOOH/Ni-foam electrode would be a promising anode for OER. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]