<i>In Situ</i> Manipulation of Surface Spin Configurations for Enhanced Performance in Oxygen Evolution Reactions
Chao Zhong, Wenda Zhou, Xingfang Luo, Tingfeng Li, Fujin Huang, Jie Hu, Zhenzhen Jiang, Ce Hu, Wen Lei, Cailei Yuan
Abstract
In situ studies of the relationship between surface spin configurations and spin-related electrocatalytic reactions are crucial for understanding how magnetic catalysts enhance oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance under magnetic fields. In this work, 2D Fe 7 Se 8 nanosheets with rich surface spin configurations are synthesized via chemical vapor deposition. In situ magnetic force microscopy and Raman spectroscopy reveal that a 200 mT magnetic field eliminates spin-disordered domain walls, forming a spin-ordered single-domain structure, which lowers the OER energy barrier, as confirmed by theoretical calculations. Electrochemical tests show that under a 200 mT magnetic field, the OER overpotential of multidomain Fe 7 Se 8 nanosheets at 10 mA cm –2 decreases from 346 mV to 259 mV, while the magnetic field has minimal effect on single-domain nanosheets. These findings highlight the critical role of spin configurations in enhancing electrocatalytic performance, offering new insights into the design of magnetic catalysts for industrial applications.