Electrode has potential for green fuel production

Existing high-performance water-splitting devices rely on electrodes made from rare and expensive metals, which limits their widespread rollout and use. Their motivation is to replace the precious metal-based anode in water-splitting systems, reducing costs and fostering convenient mass production while not compromising on performance.

Using a simple, rapid and scalable wet-chemical approach, the team grew two-dimensional Cobalt Iron hydroxide (CoFe-OH) nanosheets on Nickel foam substrates, then deposited Iron oxyhydroxide (FeOOH) nanoparticles onto the surface.

By using nanomaterial deposition to engineer the interface between the electrode and the water, the team created a material that combined high electrical conductivity with a high surface area covered with abundant active sites for molecular Oxygen (O₂) production and Hydrogen, a potential green fuel. The material also proved to be robust, with no drop-off in performance detected after 50 hours of continuous use.