Polarized Electronic Configuration in Transition Metal-Fluoride Oxide Hollow Nanoprism for Highly Efficient and Robust Water Splitting

Metal-fluoride possesses a high potential as new high-performance water oxidation catalysts due to a highly polarized electronic configuration. However, low conductivity, related to high iconicity in metal-fluorine bonds, and instability of metal-fluoride in alkaline solution act as major roadblocks for using metal-fluoride as a highly efficient electrocatalyst. Here, we first disclose a novel strategy to design the electrochemically active and stable metal-fluoride electrocatalysts, nickel-cobalt fluoride oxide (NCFO), for water oxidation. The incorporation of F leads to substantial increase of the number of surface active sites with unsaturated electronic structure, which is beneficial for boosting electrocatalytic activity.