The quest for developing next-generation non-precious electrocatalysts has risen in recent times. Herein, we have designed and developed a low cost electrocatalyst by a ligand-assisted synthetic strategy in an aqueous medium. An oxalate ligand-assisted non-oxide electrocatalyst was developed by a simple wet-chemical technique for alkaline water oxidation application. The synthetic parameters for the preparation of nickel–cobalt oxalate (Ni 2.5Co 5C 2O 4) were optimized, such as the metal precursor (Ni/Co) ratio, oxalic acid amount, reaction temperature, and time. Microstructural analysis revealed a mesoporous block-like architecture for nickel–cobalt oxalate (Ni 2.5Co 5C 2O 4). The required overpotential of Ni 2.5Co 5C 2O 4 for the alkaline oxygen evolution reaction (OER) was found to be 330 mV for achieving 10 mA cm geo −2, which is superior to that of NiC 2O 4, CoC 2O 4, NiCo 2O 4 and the state-of-the-art RuO 2. The splendid performance of Ni 2.5Co 5C 2O 4 was further verified by its low charge transfer resistance, impressive stability performance, and 87% faradaic efficiency in alkaline medium (pH = 14). The improved electrochemical activity was further attributed to double layer capacitance ( C dl), which indefinitely divulged the inferiority of NiCo 2O 4 compared to Ni 2.5Co 5C 2O 4 for the alkaline oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The obtained proton reaction order ( ρ RHE) was about 0.80, thus indicating the proton decoupled electron transfer (PDET) mechanism for OER in alkaline medium. Post-catalytic investigation revealed the formation of a flake-like porous nanostructure, indicating distinct transformation in morphology during the alkaline OER process. Further, XPS analysis demonstrated complete oxidation of Ni 2+ and Co 2+ centres into Ni 3+ and Co 3+, respectively under high oxidation potential, thereby indicating active site formation throughout the microstructural network. Additionally, from BET-normalised LSV investigation, the intrinsic activity of Ni 2.5Co 5C 2O 4 was also found to be higher than that of NiCo 2O 4. Finally, Ni 2.5Co 5C 2O 4 delivered a TOF value of around 3.28 × 10 −3 s −1, which is 5.56 fold that of NiCo 2O 4 for the alkaline OER process. This report highlights the unique benefit of Ni 2.5Co 5C 2O 4 over NiCo 2O 4 for the alkaline OER. The structure–catalytic property relationship was further elucidated using density functional theory (DFT) study. To the best of our knowledge, nickel–cobalt oxalate (Ni 2.5Co 5C 2O 4) was introduced for the first time as a non-precious non-oxide electrocatalyst for alkaline OER application.
Nickel–cobalt oxalate (Ni 2.5Co 5C 2O 4– nH 2O) based block-like nanostructure has been introduced as superior electrocatalyst compared to nickel–cobalt oxide (NiCo 2O 4) for alkaline water oxidation.