Investigation of Fe-Ni-O nanoparticles for water splitting
- This study investigates the effect of varying iron-to-nickel ratios on the catalytic performance of Fe-Ni oxide nanoparticles (NPs) for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Addressing the issue of high energy wastage due to large overpotentials in OER, we synthesized and characterized different NP catalysts with different Fe: Ni oxide ratios. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) were employed to determine the morphology, elemental and phase composition of the NPs. Furthermore, in-depth profiling with X-rayPhotoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Hard X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (HAXPES) revealedthat iron predominantly exists as oxide, while nickel exhibits both metallic and oxidic forms depending on the Fe content. XPS indicated an enrichment of iron at the NP surface, whereas HAXPES and EDSdata agreed on the bulk stoichiometry.