iRs-corrections induce potentially misjudging toward electrocatalytic water oxidation

'Outstanding' electrocatalysts towards oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are springing up at present, to the extent that one questions if most nanomaterials are inherently highly active electrocatalysts. The answer is negative for certain easy-to-ignore data processing errors could lead to potential misjudgment of electrocatalytic activity. Combing through 100 highly cited papers (ESI 1% in Web of Science) concerning OER published in the last three years, the applications of uncompensated potential (iRs)-correction rates are severely inconsistent. Herein, taking the benchmarks RuO2 and IrO2 as model catalysts, the authors investigated the effects of various iRs-correction rates on OER performance (overpotential, Tafel slope, and turnover frequency). The unanticipated discoveries may provoke a re-examination of those reported as 'great' OER electrocatalysts as well as help draw attention to iRs-correction rates in the field of electrocatalysis.