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Scalable interfacial engineering of Fe–CoOOH nanosheets via in situ electrochemical restructuring for industrial oxygen evolution
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Scalable interfacial engineering of Fe–CoOOH nanosheets via in situ electrochemical restructuring for industrial oxygen evolution

Wenxin Jiao, Jiaxun Huang, Zhenghu Zhu, Xinzhou Ma, Haofeng Lu, Kang Zhang, Cheng Chen, Xinfeng Wu, Yonghou Xiao, Wanghui Wei, …
Applied surface science, v 723, 165549
30 Mar 2026

Abstract

Electrocatalyst Fe-doped CoOOH Green hydrogen In situ electrochemical restructuring Interfacial engineering Oxygen evolution reaction
In-Situ Restructured Fe-CoOOH Nanosheets for High-Performance OER. [Display omitted] •Scalable, calcination-free synthesis of Fe–CoOOH via electrochemical restructuring.•Microcrack-enriched nanosheets boost mass transport and active site exposure.•283.7 mV overpotential at 100 mA cm−2, outperforming IrO2 in alkali.•Fe doping enables Co4+ formation and accelerates OER kinetics. The development of efficient, durable, and scalable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts is pivotal for industrial green hydrogen production. Here, we report a calcination-free interfacial engineering strategy to fabricate Fe-doped CoOOH (Fe–CoOOH) nanosheets directly on nickel foam through in situ electrochemical restructuring. The resulting catalyst features vertically aligned, microcrack-enriched nanosheets with optimized electronic structure, delivering an ultralow overpotential of 283.7 mV at 100 mA cm−2 and a Tafel slope of 28.2 mV dec−1 in 1 M KOH—surpassing Ni foil. It enables stable operation for over 150 h in a practical anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer (AEMWE). In situ Raman spectroscopic, DFT and XPS analyses reveal that Fe doping promotes the formation of high-valent Co4+ species, weakens O–H bonding, enhances electrical conductivity, and shifts the OER rate-determining step from *OOH formation to a faster surface transformation pathway. This work presents a scalable, energy-efficient route to high-performance, earth-abundant OER electrocatalysts, offering a viable design principle for next-generation industrial water electrolysis.

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Chemistry, Physical
Materials Science, Coatings & Films
Physics, Applied
Physics, Condensed Matter
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