10.1021/jacs.6b00332.s001 Mikaela Görlin Mikaela Görlin Petko Chernev Petko Chernev Jorge Ferreira de Araújo Jorge Ferreira de Araújo Tobias Reier Tobias Reier Sören Dresp Sören Dresp Benjamin Paul Benjamin Paul Ralph Krähnert Ralph Krähnert Holger Dau Holger Dau Peter Strasser Peter Strasser Oxygen Evolution Reaction Dynamics, Faradaic Charge Efficiency, and the Active Metal Redox States of Ni–Fe Oxide Water Splitting Electrocatalysts American Chemical Society 2016 metal reduction step faradaic efficiency Ni centers increase metal redox state Active Metal Redox States O 2 release anode catalysts XAS data structure motifs fuels reactors metal oxidation process OER catalysis water splitting OER conditions O 2 DEMS NiOOH catalyst oxidation states faradaic charge efficiencies Fe K OER activity reaction rate oxygen evolution reaction dynamics electrochemical mass spectrometry Faradaic Charge Efficiency Ni atoms Oxygen Evolution Reaction Dynamics surface catalysis Fe centers oxidation state reaction product molecules 2016-03-31 00:00:00 Journal contribution https://acs.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Oxygen_Evolution_Reaction_Dynamics_Faradaic_Charge_Efficiency_and_the_Active_Metal_Redox_States_of_Ni_Fe_Oxide_Water_Splitting_Electrocatalysts/3201397 Mixed Ni–Fe oxides are attractive anode catalysts for efficient water splitting in solar fuels reactors. Because of conflicting past reports, the catalytically active metal redox state of the catalyst has remained under debate. Here, we report an in operando quantitative deconvolution of the charge injected into the nanostructured Ni–Fe oxyhydroxide OER catalysts or into reaction product molecules. To achieve this, we explore the oxygen evolution reaction dynamics and the individual faradaic charge efficiencies using operando differential electrochemical mass spectrometry (DEMS). We further use X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) under OER conditions at the Ni and Fe <i>K</i>-edges of the electrocatalysts to evaluate oxidation states and local atomic structure motifs. DEMS and XAS data consistently reveal that up to 75% of the Ni centers increase their oxidation state from +2 to +3, while up to 25% arrive in the +4 state for the NiOOH catalyst under OER catalysis. The Fe centers consistently remain in the +3 state, regardless of potential and composition. For mixed Ni<sub>100–<i>x</i></sub>Fe<sub><i>x</i></sub> catalysts, where <i>x</i> exceeds 9 atomic %, the faradaic efficiency of O<sub>2</sub> sharply increases from ∼30% to 90%, suggesting that Ni atoms largely remain in the oxidation state +2 under catalytic conditions. To reconcile the apparent low level of oxidized Ni in mixed Ni–Fe catalysts, we hypothesize that a kinetic competition between the (i) metal oxidation process and the (ii) metal reduction step during O<sub>2</sub> release may account for an insignificant accumulation of detectable high-valent metal states if the reaction rate of process (ii) outweighs that of (i). We conclude that a discussion of the superior catalytic OER activity of Ni–FeOOH electrocatalysts in terms of surface catalysis and redox-inactive metal sites likely represents an oversimplification that fails to capture essential aspects of the synergisms at highly active Ni–Fe sites.