In Situ Reconstruction of Helical Iron Borophosphate Precatalyst toward Durable Industrial Alkaline Water Electrolysis and Selective Oxidation of Alcohols

Iron-based (pre)catalysts have attracted enormous attention for various electrooxidation reactions due to the low cost, high abundance, and multiple accessible redox states of iron. Herein, a well-defined helical iron borophosphate (LiFeBPO) is developed as an electro(pre)catalyst oxygen evolution reaction (OER) selective alcohol oxidation. When deposited on nickel foam (NF), LiFeBPO exhibits exceptional OER performance at ambient conditions attaining current density 100 mA cm−2 ≈276 mV overpotential in 1 m KOH. Notably, this anode sustains durable alkaline water electrolysis 500 over 330 h under industrial (6 KOH 85 °C). In –situ ex situ investigations reveal deep reconstruction during OER, which transforms into 3D open porous skeleton assembled by ultrasmall, low-crystalline α-FeOOH nanoparticles (interfacing with NiOOH NF). This structure contributes exposing surface active sites, well accelerating mass transport bubble detachment. Moreover, electrode also catalyzes alcohols (methanol, ethylene glycol, glycerol) formic acid (FA) selectivity full conversion. study provides promising solutions designing suitable anodes simultaneous production green hydrogen fuel value–added FA from reactions.