@article{Bai2025, 
author = {Shuozhan Bai and Weiji Dai and Xin Chen and Fan Zhang and Weiguo Chen and Bing Wu and Cuijiao Zhao and Jing Guo and Saifang Huang},
title = {Surface-reconstructed nanoporous (CoNiFe)OOH modulated by Zn(OH)42− anions: A synergistic strategy for enhanced oxygen evolution reaction electrocatalysis},
year = {2025},
journal = {Nano Research},
volume = {18},
number = {11},
pages = {94907809},
keywords = {surface reconstruction, electrocatalysis, water splitting, transition metal oxy-hydroxides, medium-entropy alloys (MEAs)},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/NR.2025.94907809},
doi = {10.26599/NR.2025.94907809},
abstract = {The sluggish kinetics of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) severely limits the efficiency of electrochemical water splitting for sustainable hydrogen production. Developing cost-effective and efficient OER electrocatalysts based on earth-abundant elements is thus highly desirable. Herein, we report a nanoporous (CoNiFe)OOH electrocatalyst decorated with Zn(OH)42− anions, synthesized via electrochemical surface reconstruction of ZnO-decorated CoNiFe medium-entropy alloys (MEAs). The reconstructed (CoNiFe)OOH adsorbed with Zn(OH)42− anions serves as the real active phase, featuring abundant catalytic sites and enhanced OH− accessibility. Adsorbed Zn(OH)42− anions promote OH− transfer and facilitate electron redistribution at the active sites, particularly enhancing Co site activity, as revealed by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. As a result, the optimized CoNiFeZn@NF-EO electrode exhibits outstanding OER performance, achieving a low overpotential of 264 mV at 10 mA·cm−2, a Tafel slope of 46.6 mV·dec−1, and remarkable long-term stability in alkaline electrolyte. This work provides new insights into the synergistic effect between surface reconstruction and Zn-based species, offering a promising strategy for designing high-performance OER electrocatalysts.}
}