Hetero‐Atomic Pairs with a Distal Fe<sup>3+</sup>‐Site Boost Water Oxidation
Yanping Zhu, Gao Chen, You‐Chiuan Chu, Chia‐Shuo Hsu, Jiali Wang, Ching‐Wei Tung, Hao Ming Chen
Abstract
Abstract The hetero‐atomic interaction has been the subject of many investigations, due to their heterogeneity, the individual roles of the atoms are still difficult to realize. Herein, an electrocatalyst with a hetero‐atomic pair confined on a tungsten phosphide (WP) substrate so that the Fe 3+ ‐site of the pair is distal to the surface is shown to deliver an extremely low overpotential of 192 mV at 10 mA cm −2 and one of the highest oxygen production turnover frequencies (TOF) of 2.1 s −1 at 300 mV under alkaline environment for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Operando characterization shows the Lewis acidic Fe 3+ site boosts a large population of Co 4+/3+ and the deprotonation of coordinated water, allowing simultaneously enhanced electron‐transfer as well as the proton‐transfer. A significant contribution from the WP substrate modulates the order of hydroxide transfer in the pre‐equilibrium step (PES) and rate‐determining‐step (RDS), leading to a remarkable OER performance.