Activating and Stabilizing Lattice Oxygen via Self-Adaptive Zn–NiOOH Sub-Nanowires for Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Efficient and durable catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction are essential for realizing the large-scale application of water electrolysis technologies. Here, we report a novel Zn-doped NiOOH subnanowires (Zn–NiOOH SNWs) catalyst synthesized via the electrochemical reconstruction of Zn–NiMoO4 SNWs. The inclusion of Zn triggers a transition in the oxygen evolution reaction mechanism of NiOOH from the adsorbate evolution mechanism to the lattice oxygen mechanism, resulted from Zn's adaptive adjustment of coordination types, which also improves the reaction energetics, thereby enhancing the stability and activity. Furthermore, the subnanowire structure provides further stabilization of the lattice oxygen in Zn–NiOOH, preventing its destructive dissolution. Remarkably, Zn–NiOOH SNWs display a current density of 10 mA cm–2 with an overpotential of only 179 mV and maintain stable operation at 200 mA cm–2 for 800 h with minimal changes in overpotential, establishing them as one of the most effective catalysts involving lattice oxygen for the alkaline oxygen evolution reaction. When utilized as the anode in an alkaline water electrolyzer, our Zn–NiOOH SNWs catalyst demonstrates stability exceeding 500 h under a water-splitting current of 200 mA cm–2, indicating promising potential for practical applications.