Benchmarking of oxygen evolution catalysts on porous nickel supports

Active and inexpensive oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts are needed for energy-efficient electrolysis applications. Objective comparison between OER catalysts has been blurred by the use of different supports and methods to evaluate performance. Here, we selected nine highly active transition-metal-based catalysts and described their synthesis, using a porous nickel foam and a new Ni-based dendritic material as the supports. We designed a standardized protocol to characterize and compare the catalysts in terms of structure, activity, density of active sites, and stability. NiFeSe- and CoFeSe-derived oxides showed the highest activities on our dendritic support, with low overpotentials of η100 ≈ 247 mV at 100 mA cm–2 in 1 M KOH. Stability evaluation showed no surface leaching for 8 h of electrolysis. This work highlights the most active anode materials and provides an easy way to increase the geometric current density of a catalyst by tuning the porosity of its support.