Promoting the Oxygen Vacancy in NiFe LDH-MOF Nanohybrid via Ce Doping for Efficient Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Abstract

Electrolytic water splitting is a pivotal strategy for scalable hydrogen production, yet its efficiency is hindered by the sluggish kinetics of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, we report a Ce-doped NiFe LDH-MOF nanohybrid successfully synthesized via a facile one-pot solvothermal route. This integrated architecture synergistically combines the structural robustness of layered double hydroxides (LDHs) with the expansive porosity of metal−organic frameworks (MOFs). Electrochemical assessments reveal that Ce incorporation markedly enhances OER proficiency, requiring a minimal overpotential of merely 262 mV to drive 100 mA cm^-2, a 64 mV reduction relative to the undoped counterpart. Furthermore, the catalyst exhibits exceptional durability for over 100 h without perceptible degradation. Mechanistically, the unique 4f configuration and Ce³⁺/Ce⁴⁺ redox couple are proposed to modulate the local electronic environment and promote oxygen vacancy-related defects, thereby increasing the contribution of lattice oxygen mechanism (LOM) processes during OER. This work underscores the judicious engineering of doped nanohybrids for next-generation electrocatalysis.