skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Domain Structures of Ni and NiFe (Oxy)Hydroxide Oxygen-Evolution Catalysts from X-ray Pair Distribution Function Analysis

Journal Article · · Journal of Physical Chemistry. C
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Univ. of Oregon, Eugene, OR (United States). Dept. of Chemistry
  2. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS) and Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division

Ni-Fe (oxy)hydroxides, Ni(i-z)FezOxHy, are among the fastest-known water oxidation catalysts in alkaline media on a per-cation basis. At current densities relevant for electrolysis (e.g., >0.5 A/cm(-2)), mass and electron transport through catalyst films with high mass loading are critical and depend substantially on the extended and intermediate catalyst architecture. We use X-ray pair distribution function (PDF) analysis to determine the intermediate nanostructures of electrodeposited Ni(i-z)FezOxHy films. We report the effects of electrodeposition technique (pulsed versus continuous), electrochemical cycling, and Fe content on the structure of the catalyst film. The PDF patterns for Ni(i-z)FezOxHy films are best simulated by model structures consisting of brucite-like β-Ni(OH)2 fragments 1 to 3 layers in thickness. Only the oxidation state of the film significantly affects the intralayer scattering behavior (i.e., metal-oxygen bond distance). The interlayer interactions, however, are affected by Fe content and deposition conditions. The domain size of many of the systems are similar, extending to similar to ~5 nm, which are best modeled by sheets containing upward of similar to ~250 metal cations. Smaller domains were found for films deposited through a larger number of electrochemical cathodic current pulses. Films can be cycled between as-deposited, oxidized, and reduced states, with minimal loss of intrasheet coherence, indicating a degree of structural stability. We estimate heterogeneity in the domain structures by modeling the PDF data to linear combinations of oxyhydroxide fragments with different sizes and numbers of layers.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Chemical Sciences, Geosciences & Biosciences Division; National Science Foundation (NSF); US Air Force Academy; Sloan Foundation; Dreyfus Foundation; W. M. Keck Foundation; M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust; Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357; CHE-1566348; SC0001059
OSTI ID:
1461297
Journal Information:
Journal of Physical Chemistry. C, Vol. 121, Issue 45; ISSN 1932-7447
Publisher:
American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 20 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (68)

Operando Analysis of NiFe and Fe Oxyhydroxide Electrocatalysts for Water Oxidation: Detection of Fe 4+ by Mössbauer Spectroscopy journal November 2015
Revised Oxygen Evolution Reaction Activity Trends for First-Row Transition-Metal (Oxy)hydroxides in Alkaline Media journal August 2015
Beyond crystallography: the study of disorder, nanocrystallinity and crystallographically challenged materials with pair distribution functions journal January 2004
Oxyanion induced variations in domain structure for amorphous cobalt oxide oxygen evolving catalysts, resolved by X-ray pair distribution function analysis journal December 2015
Reversible amorphization and the catalytically active state of crystalline Co3O4 during oxygen evolution journal October 2015
High Specific Surface Area Nickel Mixed Oxide Powders LaNiO3 (Perovskite) and NiCo2O4 (Spinel) via Sol-Gel Type Routes for Oxygen Electrocatalysis in Alkaline Media journal April 1995
X-ray diffraction "fingerprinting" of DNA structure in solution for quantitative evaluation of molecular dynamics simulation journal February 2006
Thermodynamic explanation of the universal correlation between oxygen evolution activity and corrosion of oxide catalysts journal July 2015
Recent progress in alkaline water electrolysis for hydrogen production and applications journal June 2010
Revised effective ionic radii and systematic studies of interatomic distances in halides and chalcogenides journal September 1976
Effects of Fe Electrolyte Impurities on Ni(OH) 2 /NiOOH Structure and Oxygen Evolution Activity journal March 2015
Advanced alkaline water electrolysis journal November 2012
Multiphase Nanostructure of a Quinary Metal Oxide Electrocatalyst Reveals a New Direction for OER Electrocatalyst Design journal February 2015
Anodically electrodeposited Co+Ni mixed oxide electrode: preparation and electrocatalytic activity for oxygen evolution in alkaline media journal October 2004
Electrochemically induced surface modifications of mesoporous spinels (Co 3 O 4−δ , MnCo 2 O 4−δ , NiCo 2 O 4−δ ) as the origin of the OER activity and stability in alkaline medium journal January 2015
Contributions to activity enhancement via Fe incorporation in Ni-(oxy)hydroxide/borate catalysts for near-neutral pH oxygen evolution journal January 2015
Iron-Doped Nickel Oxide Nanocrystals as Highly Efficient Electrocatalysts for Alkaline Water Splitting journal April 2015
Hydrothermal Continuous Flow Synthesis and Exfoliation of NiCo Layered Double Hydroxide Nanosheets for Enhanced Oxygen Evolution Catalysis journal January 2015
Ni3S2 nanorods/Ni foam composite electrode with low overpotential for electrocatalytic oxygen evolution journal January 2013
An Advanced Ni–Fe Layered Double Hydroxide Electrocatalyst for Water Oxidation journal May 2013
Highly Active Mixed-Metal Nanosheet Water Oxidation Catalysts Made by Pulsed-Laser Ablation in Liquids journal September 2014
Nature of Activated Manganese Oxide for Oxygen Evolution journal November 2015
Ab initio calculation of electronic coupling in the photosynthetic reaction center journal November 1998
Clean energy new deal for a sustainable world: from non-CO2 generating energy sources to greener electrochemical storage devices journal January 2011
Solar Water Splitting Cells journal November 2010
Ni 2 P as a Janus catalyst for water splitting: the oxygen evolution activity of Ni 2 P nanoparticles journal January 2015
Charge-Transfer Effects in Ni–Fe and Ni–Fe–Co Mixed-Metal Oxides for the Alkaline Oxygen Evolution Reaction journal December 2015
PDFgetX2: a GUI-driven program to obtain the pair distribution function from X-ray powder diffraction data journal July 2004
Solar Energy Supply and Storage for the Legacy and Nonlegacy Worlds journal November 2010
Ni/Fe electrodes prepared by electrodeposition method over different substrates for oxygen evolution reaction in alkaline medium journal March 2014
Solution-Cast Metal Oxide Thin Film Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Evolution journal October 2012
Nickel-oxido structure of a water-oxidizing catalyst film journal January 2011
Basic study of alkaline water electrolysis journal June 2013
First implementation of alkaline polymer electrolyte water electrolysis working only with pure water journal January 2012
Domain structure for an amorphous iridium-oxide water-oxidation catalyst characterized by X-ray pair distribution function analysis journal January 2014
NiSe Nanowire Film Supported on Nickel Foam: An Efficient and Stable 3D Bifunctional Electrode for Full Water Splitting journal July 2015
Effect of interlayer anions on [NiFe]-LDH nanosheet water oxidation activity journal January 2016
Theoretical Investigation of the Activity of Cobalt Oxides for the Electrochemical Oxidation of Water journal August 2013
Tunable composition of NiII–AlIII and NiII–FeIII layered hydroxides within a wide range of layer charge journal January 2011
Measurement Techniques for the Study of Thin Film Heterogeneous Water Oxidation Electrocatalysts journal October 2016
Intermediate-Range Structure of Self-Assembled Cobalt-Based Oxygen-Evolving Catalyst journal April 2013
Pulse-Electrodeposited Ni–Fe (Oxy)hydroxide Oxygen Evolution Electrocatalysts with High Geometric and Intrinsic Activities at Large Mass Loadings journal October 2015
Zur kenntnis der nickelhydroxidelektrode—I.Über das nickel (II)-hydroxidhydrat journal August 1966
Progress in electrical energy storage system: A critical review journal March 2009
The Catalysis of the Oxygen Evolution Reaction by Iron Impurities in Thin Film Nickel Oxide Electrodes journal January 1987
Benchmarking Heterogeneous Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction journal October 2013
X-ray diffraction patterns of graphite and turbostratic carbon journal July 2007
Effect of Coprecipitated Metal Ions on the Electrochemistry of Nickel Hydroxide Thin Films: Cyclic Voltammetry in 1M KOH journal January 1989
Oxygen Evolution Reaction Electrocatalysis on Transition Metal Oxides and (Oxy)hydroxides: Activity Trends and Design Principles journal October 2015
Oxygen Evolution Reaction Dynamics, Faradaic Charge Efficiency, and the Active Metal Redox States of Ni–Fe Oxide Water Splitting Electrocatalysts journal April 2016
Identification of Highly Active Fe Sites in (Ni,Fe)OOH for Electrocatalytic Water Splitting journal January 2015
Alkaline Water Electrolysis Anode Materials journal January 1985
Reactive Fe-Sites in Ni/Fe (Oxy)hydroxide Are Responsible for Exceptional Oxygen Electrocatalysis Activity journal August 2017
Mapping the performance of amorphous ternary metal oxide water oxidation catalysts containing aluminium journal January 2015
Nickel–Iron Oxyhydroxide Oxygen-Evolution Electrocatalysts: The Role of Intentional and Incidental Iron Incorporation journal April 2014
Comprehensive Structural, Surface-Chemical and Electrochemical Characterization of Nickel-Based Metallic Foams journal June 2013
Elucidating the Domain Structure of the Cobalt Oxide Water Splitting Catalyst by X-ray Pair Distribution Function Analysis journal June 2012
Structure–Activity Correlations in a Nickel–Borate Oxygen Evolution Catalyst
  • Bediako, D. Kwabena; Lassalle-Kaiser, Benedikt; Surendranath, Yogesh
  • Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 134, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1021/ja301018q
journal April 2012
Role of Catalyst Preparation on the Electrocatalytic Activity of Ni 1– x Fe x OOH for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction journal August 2015
Benchmarking the Stability of Oxygen Evolution Reaction Catalysts: The Importance of Monitoring Mass Losses journal October 2014
Water Oxidation at Electrodes Modified with Earth-Abundant Transition-Metal Catalysts journal October 2014
Photochemical Route for Accessing Amorphous Metal Oxide Materials for Water Oxidation Catalysis journal March 2013
Efficient Water Oxidation Using Nanostructured α-Nickel-Hydroxide as an Electrocatalyst journal May 2014
Enhanced electrochemical performance of nickel hydroxide electrode with monolayer hollow spheres composed of nanoflakes journal October 2011
The intensification technologies to water electrolysis for hydrogen production – A review journal January 2014
Room-temperature synthetic NiFe layered double hydroxide with different anions intercalation as an excellent oxygen evolution catalyst journal January 2015
Accuracy of pair distribution function analysis applied to crystalline and non-crystalline materials journal May 1992
Structural Characteristics and Eutaxy in the Photo-Deposited Amorphous Iron Oxide Oxygen Evolution Catalyst journal April 2015

Cited By (2)