Cobalt doping regulates metal–oxygen coordination in nickel–iron layered double hydroxides for enhanced oxygen evolution reaction

Electrochemical water splitting is limited by the sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER), motivating the development of efficient non-noble-metal electrocatalysts. Here, Cobalt Doping Nickel–Iron layered double hydroxide self-supported electrodes on nickel foam (Co-NiFe-LDH/NF) were fabricated via a one-step hydrothermal method. Co incorporation preserved the flower-like nanosheet morphology while optimizing the composition and surface chemical environment. The optimized catalyst required only 184 mV overpotential to deliver 10 mA cm −2 , outperforming NiFe-LDH/NF and commercial RuO 2 /NF. It also exhibited a low charge-transfer resistance of 0.1009 Ω, a high double-layer capacitance of 11.23 mF cm −2 , and stable operation for 100 h at 100 mA cm −2 . These results demonstrate that Co doping promotes active oxyhydroxide formation, accelerates OER kinetics, and enhances long-term stability, providing an effective strategy for designing durable multimetallic LDH electrocatalysts.