Oxygen Evolution Reaction: Surface Reconstruction and Phase Transition on Vanadium–Cobalt–Iron Trimetal Nitrides to Form Active Oxyhydroxide for Enhanced Electrocatalytic Water Oxidation (Adv. Energy Mater. 45/2020)

In article number 2002464, Shi Chen, Lei Wang, Guichuan Xing, Hui Pan and co-workers develop a vanadium-cobalt-iron trimetal nitride system with greatly enhanced electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The metal oxyhydroxide formed in the OER process due to the surface reconstruction and phase transition is the intrinsic active species for the OER. In addition, the promoted oxygen evolution is possibly activated by a peroxo-like (O22−) species through a combined lattice-oxygen-oxidation and adsorbate-escape mechanism.