Nanostructured NiMoO4 as active electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution

It is desirable to exploit cost-effective and earth-abundant catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in developing electrochemical energy conversion and storage technologies. Here we report a facile hydrothermal synthesis of NiMoO4 nanorods as active and stable OER catalyst in alkaline condition. The prepared NiMoO4 nanorods exhibit a considerably low overpotential of 340 mV at the current density of 10 mA/cm2 and a low Tafel slope of 45.6 mV/dec, which is comparable to the benchmark RuO2. Furthermore, the performance of NiMoO4 significantly surpasses binary NiO and MoO3 oxides due to enhanced charge transfer and promoted formation of catalytically active Ni3+ species. The results highlight the importance of designing ternary oxides in oxygen electrocatalysis.