TY - JOUR
T1 - Modulating Intrinsic Sulfate Ions in FeOOH Nanorods for Enhanced Energy Storage and Catalytic Oxygen Evolution
AU - Tahir, Muhammad
AU - Dai, Jun
AU - Nisa, Fazal Ul
AU - Naseem, Mizna
AU - Qu, Longbing
AU - Ma, Zeyu
AU - Wang, Wenwu
AU - Peng, Zhen
AU - He, Liang
AU - Akbar, Abdul Rehman
AU - Wang, Dingsheng
AU - Li, Lihong
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 Wiley-VCH GmbH.
PY - 2025/4/23
Y1 - 2025/4/23
N2 - Designing efficient low-cost earth-abundant metal electrodes for enhanced energy storage and sluggish oxygen evolution reactions (OERs) poses significant challenges in electrochemistry. Herein an innovative approach to boost the activity of FeOOH nanorods for energy storage and catalytic OER by initiating intrinsic sulfate ion (SO42−) modulation is proposed. Through a one-step hydrothermal synthesis using a polymeric ferric sulfate precursor, it is successfully cultivated sulfated iron oxyhydroxide (S-FeOOH) nanorods. Remarkably, the presence of sulfate ions effectively prevented the transformation of FeOOH into less active Fe2O3, even under elevated temperature. Annealing induced the leaching of sulfate ions, leading to structural rearrangements with shorter Fe-O bond lengths and the formation of sulfate-textured FeOOH (ST-FeOOH) with additional active sites, consequently increasing the material's surface area. Importantly, compared with reported non-noble metal catalysts, the ST-FeOOH nanorods exhibited significantly enhanced energy storage capabilities (3684 mF cm−2) and catalytic performance in the OER. With a low overpotential of 173 mV to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm−2, fast OER kinetics (39 mV dec−1), and exceptional stability exceeding 80 h, these nanorods demonstrate their potential as efficient OER catalysts. This work demonstrates sulfate ion modulation's role in tailoring FeOOH nanorods for advanced cost-effective electrodes and OER electrocatalysts.
AB - Designing efficient low-cost earth-abundant metal electrodes for enhanced energy storage and sluggish oxygen evolution reactions (OERs) poses significant challenges in electrochemistry. Herein an innovative approach to boost the activity of FeOOH nanorods for energy storage and catalytic OER by initiating intrinsic sulfate ion (SO42−) modulation is proposed. Through a one-step hydrothermal synthesis using a polymeric ferric sulfate precursor, it is successfully cultivated sulfated iron oxyhydroxide (S-FeOOH) nanorods. Remarkably, the presence of sulfate ions effectively prevented the transformation of FeOOH into less active Fe2O3, even under elevated temperature. Annealing induced the leaching of sulfate ions, leading to structural rearrangements with shorter Fe-O bond lengths and the formation of sulfate-textured FeOOH (ST-FeOOH) with additional active sites, consequently increasing the material's surface area. Importantly, compared with reported non-noble metal catalysts, the ST-FeOOH nanorods exhibited significantly enhanced energy storage capabilities (3684 mF cm−2) and catalytic performance in the OER. With a low overpotential of 173 mV to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm−2, fast OER kinetics (39 mV dec−1), and exceptional stability exceeding 80 h, these nanorods demonstrate their potential as efficient OER catalysts. This work demonstrates sulfate ion modulation's role in tailoring FeOOH nanorods for advanced cost-effective electrodes and OER electrocatalysts.
KW - bifunctional electrode
KW - polymeric ferric sulfate
KW - redox active cathode
KW - sulfate ion modulation
KW - water oxidation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105003696495&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/smll.202412645
DO - 10.1002/smll.202412645
M3 - Article
C2 - 40100240
AN - SCOPUS:105003696495
SN - 1613-6810
VL - 21
JO - Small
JF - Small
IS - 16
M1 - 2412645
ER -