Ultrafast Laser-Driven Fabrication of NiCoFe Carbides for Exceptional Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Developing cost-effective, highly efficient, and durable electrodes is pivotal for advancing electrochemical water splitting, particularly the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, a nickel cobalt iron (NiCoFe) carbide supported on nickel foam is synthesized by using direct laser writing. The laser-induced NiCoFe carbides feature distorted crystal lattices with disrupted atomic arrangements, setting them apart from conventional structures. These carbides demonstrate exceptional OER activity, achieving an overpotential of just 197 mV at 10 mA cm^-2 in alkaline solutions. The defective surface significantly enhances the adsorption of critical intermediates, namely, OH*, O*, and OOH*, during the OER processes. Density functional theory calculations reveal that these surface defects accelerate electron transfer, inducing charge redistribution at the interface and reducing the energy barrier of the rate-determining step to 0.97 eV. This study underscored the transformative role of surface defects at the electrocatalyst interface, offering valuable insights into designing electrode materials for an efficient electrochemical reaction.