Studies on the effect of crystalline Fe2O3 on OER performance of amorphous NiOOH electrodeposited on stainless steel substrate

Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a prime reaction process involved in water splitting with productive usage of renewable energy sources has become a fascinating empirical trend for clean energy cropping and efficient energy storage. Herein, a facile two-step cathodic deposition followed by anodic activation protocol has been demonstrated, using a simple DC power supply, for the preparation of NiOOH\Fe2O3 composite made of amorphous NiOOH and crystalline Fe2O3 confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron (XPS), Raman spectroscopy and cyclic voltammogram (CV) results. The anodic activation increases the concentration of Ni3+ on the surface and thereby enhances the OER performance. The thin film of crystalline Fe2O3 enhances the OER performance, while thick film of crystalline Fe2O3 significantly decreases the OER performance of amorphous NiOOH. The NiOOH\Fe2O3 composite displays the low overpotential of 325 mV@10 mA cm−2 (1.55 V vs. RHE) with excellent long-term stability over 50 h.