Introducing Fe2+ into Nickel-Iron Layered Double Hydroxide: Local Structure Modulated Water Oxidation Activity.

Exploring materials with regulated local structures and understanding how the atomic motifs govern the reactivity and durability of catalysts are a critical challenge for designing advanced catalysts. Herein we report the tuning of the local atomic structure of nickel-iron layered double hydroxides (NiFe-LDHs) by partially substituting Ni2+ with Fe2+ to introduce Fe-O-Fe moieties. These Fe2+ -containing NiFe-LDHs exhibit enhanced oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity with an ultralow overpotential of 195 mV at the current density of 10 mA cm-2 , which is among the best OER catalytic performance to date. In-situ X-ray absorption, Raman, and electrochemical analysis jointly reveal that the Fe-O-Fe motifs could stabilize high-valent metal sites at low overpotentials, thereby enhancing the OER activity. These results reveal the importance of tuning the local atomic structure for designing high efficiency electrocatalysts.