Novel Cobalt–Iron–Vanadium Layered Double Hydroxide Nanosheet Arrays for Superior Water Oxidation Performance

As is known, oxygen evolution reaction (OER) involves complex four electron-transfer processes, thus the electrocatalysts are often needed to decrease the high activation barrier. Searching for electrocatalysts with superior OER catalytic performance is of great importance. In this work, we reported a Ni foam (NF) supported CoFeV layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanosheet arrays as an efficient OER catalyst, which can afford a low overpotential for 0.242 and 0.33 V to generate 10 and 100 mA cm^–2, respectively. This activity is not only better than that of CoFe LDH/NF and CoV LDH/NF but also superior to that of the most reported OER catalysts. Its satisfactory activity is benefited from the introduction of a high valence state V, which could draw the electron and thus stabilize the neighboring 3d metals as the active sites. This work significantly indicates that CoFeV LDH/NF is a promising alternative as an electrocatalyst for water oxidation.