Designing of noble metal free high performance mesoporous electrocatalysts for water splitting

The work undertaken involved the synthesis of mesoporous M-ferrites (M = Co, Ni) by facile PEG-assisted microemulsion method and exploration of their electrocatalytic potential for water splitting. The onset potential for oxygen evolution befalls at nearly 1.53 V_RHE (η = 300 mV), which is 400–450 mV lesser than those reported for simple ferrites and iron oxides thin-film as electrocatalysts. These electrocatalysts exhibit the good electroactive zone having the lowest Tafel slope value, 68 mVdec⁻¹, as compared to that reported for nickel and cobalt based materials. High TOF value is attributed to the superior catalytic activity of the catalysts. NiFe₂O₄ exhibits the turn over frequency (TOF) of 2.4 s⁻¹ just at overpotential value of 0.42 V_RHE with 1.2 μmol of the prepared sample used in electrochemical analysis. The long-term catalytic stability of Ni and Co-Ferrites spectacle a remarkable and stable current density of >15 mAcm⁻² for oxygen evolution and maintained for several hours.