Tellurium-induced defect engineering for boosting the oxygen evolution reaction of spinel oxide

Abstract

Here, we report the successful synthesis of spinel oxides XTe-NiCo₂O₄ (X = 0, 2%, 4%, 6%) with different amounts of heteroatom Te doped in. Among them, 4%Te-NiCo₂O₄ exhibits the best catalytic activity. Experimental results show that the incorporation of metalloid Te atoms into NiCo₂O₄ facilitates the change of the electronic structure accompanied by the movement of the d-band center and produces more oxygen defects, which is beneficial for the improved OER activity of NiCo₂O₄.