Surface self-reconstruction of telluride induced by in-situ cathodic electrochemical activation for enhanced water oxidation performance

Metal tellurides attract recent attention because of their promising applications as effective catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). However, inappropriate adsorption energy between OER intermediates and telluride leads to an unsatisfactory electrocatalytic intrinsic activity. Herein, we adopt a unique in-situ cathodic electrochemical activation process facilitate surface self-reconstruction form vacancy (OV)-rich TeO2 layer onto Fe-doped NiTe (OV@Fe-NiTe). Characterizations theoretical calculation demonstrate that presence OV-rich realizes adjustment d-band center active site translates into enhancement *OOH intermediate thus optimization pathway. Consequently, OV@Fe-NiTe only requires ultralow overpotential 245 mV drive 100 mA cm-2 in 1 M KOH, 95 lower than Fe-NiTe, hence becoming best water oxidation electrocatalysts amongst recently reported electrocatalysts. This study presents strategy exploit telluride-based through engineering.