Oxygen evolution reaction of tellurium-incorporated nickel-iron layered double hydroxide microcrystals

Transition-metal-based layered double hydroxide (LDH) crystals have generated substantial interest as highly efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts because of their abundance, low cost, environmental friendliness, and favourable adsorption/desorption energies for intermittent reactants. However, the application of LDH crystals as high-performance electrocatalysts is frequently hindered by their sluggish electronic transport kinetics resulting from their intrinsically low conductivity. Herein, we report the effects of incorporating metalloids into transition metal LDH crystals on their electrocatalytic activity. In this study, tellurium (Te) incorporated NiFe (xTe-NiFe) LDH microcrystal, where x = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8, were grown on three-dimensional porous nickel foam using a facile solvothermal method. The electrocatalytic OER properties were analyzed using linear sweep voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The amount of Te was found to play a crucial role in improving the catalytic activity of NiFe LDH. The optimum amount of Te (x) introduced into NiFe LDH was examined with respect to the OER performance.