Comparison of the Electrocatalytic Performances of Fe-Doped NiCo-Layered Double Hydroxide (LDH) and a NiCo-LDH/Fe₃O₄ Nanocomposite in the Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Because of its important role in water splitting, electrocatalysts of water oxidation reaction (oxygen evolution reaction; OER) attracted much attention. Recently, many catalysts based on Layered Double Hydroxides (LDHs) have been introduced for this purpose. As a result, one of the main topics of the present study on renewable energies is the development of efficient and economical catalysts for OER reactions. So, in this paper, NiCo-layered double hydroxide (with [Ni2+]/[Co3+]=3 : 1 molar ratio), NiCoFe-LDH (with [Ni2+]/[Co3++Fe3+]=3 : 1 molar ratio, and different percentages of iron doping (0.25, 0.5, and 0.75), and NiCo-LDH/Fe3O4 nanocomposite were synthesized by the coprecipitation method at pH=10. The prepared materials were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, XPS, and TGA. The morphological aspects of samples were investigated by FESEM and TEM techniques. Pore size distribution, surface area, and total pore volume of materials were determined by using BET surface analysis. Finally, the performance of the synthesized samples was investigated as an electrocatalyst for the water oxidation reaction.