Functional Role of Fe, Cu-Doping in Ni-Based Perovskite Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Water electrolysis is of vital importance to store renewable energy and the development of efficient, inexpensive and stable electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is essential, which requires much more understanding of the structural and the element classification. Here, a series of LaNi0.8FexCU0.2-xO3-delta perovskites have been assessed as potential noble-metal-free OER electrocatalysts prepared by sol-gel method. Moreover, the functional role of Cu and Fe amount on the B-site of perovskites for OER electrocatalytic performance was evaluated. LaNi0.8Fe0.2O3-delta materials exhibited the highest intrinsic activities in 0.1 M KOH for OER with an onset potential of 1.56 V, a Tafel slope of 76 mV dec(-1), slightly lower than that of benchmark perovskite-type electrocatalyst Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3 (BSCF). The above results demonstrate that Cu element in the B-site of perovskites had little effect on the OER performance, and LaNi0.8Fe0.2O3-delta is a potential alternative electrocatalyst for OER application.