Dynamic Self‐Optimizing Reconstruction of Stainless Steel Fe‐Ni Dual Sites Accelerates Catalytic Intermediate Coupling for High‐Efficiency Oxygen Evolution Reaction at Industrial Current Density
Xue Lü, Biyun Wang, Jun Hu, Chengzhen Hou, Chao Chen, Zizong Zhu, Xuewei Lv, Jie Dang
Abstract
Abstract The oxygen evolution reaction (OER), a critical bottleneck in water electrolysis for hydrogen production, depends on efficient catalyst design to improve performance. Theoretically, dual‐site catalysts outperform single‐site ones due to synergistic effects between the two metals during OER. This study presents an efficient and cost‐effective OER catalyst based on stainless steel, developed through a process of acid etching, air annealing, and electrochemical oxidation. The catalyst achieves efficient * O‐O * coupling via the oxide pathway mechanism (OPM), breaking through the scaling relationship limitations of the adsorption evolution mechanism (AEM) and avoiding the structural collapse risks associated with the lattice oxygen mechanism (LOM). Specifically, the catalyst demonstrates outstanding overpotentials of 186, 355, and 421 mV at current densities of 10, 500, and 1000 mA cm −2 , respectively. During a 1600 h stability test at an industrial current density, the catalyst displays a two‐phase behavior: an initial self‐optimizing activation phase lasting up to 800 h, followed by a stable phase of equal duration. This exceptional performance is attributed to the synergistic interaction between dual‐metal sites and an optimized electronic structure. The mechanistic insights provide a new paradigm for designing highly stable industrial OER catalysts.