Bulk vs Intrinsic Activity of NiFeOx Electrocatalysts in the Oxygen Evolution Reaction: The Influence of Catalyst Loading, Morphology, and Support Material

We used a combination of ultrahigh vacuum surface science techniques, X-ray spectroscopy, electrochemistry, and density functional theory (DFT), to characterize the influence of catalyst morphology, loading/coverage, and substrate material on the bulk (all atoms) and intrinsic (electrochemically accessible atoms) activity of NiFeOx electrocatalysts in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). NiFeOx catalysts were grown on both Au(111) and highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) electrodes. DFT predicted Fe edge-site atoms at the NiFeOx/Au(111) interface to be the most thermodynamically favorable reaction center, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy data indicated small NiFeOx catalyst particles on Au(111) contained a high population of OER active Fe edge-site atoms. However, restructuring of the Au(111) surface due to repeated oxidation and reduction cycles of the OER CV measurements encapsulated small NiFeOx nanoparticles at catalyst loadings below ∼1.5 nmolmetal/cm2, passivated catalyst edges and reduced bulk OER activity of Au-supported NiFeOx compared with HOPG-supported ones. Analysis of intrinsic activity revealed that the Au(111) support strongly benefited electrochemically accessible NiFeOx atoms, and we observed a 2–3 fold activity enhancement compared with HOPG-supported catalysts for loadings above ∼1 nmolmetal/cm2. Evaluating bulk vs intrinsic activity and identifying loading/coverage-dependent support effects is important for accurately probing fundamental interfacial chemistry, choosing suitable catalyst loadings and supports, and optimizing system parameters to maximize the performance of electrocatalyst systems.