Abstract
Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a prime reaction process involved in water splitting with productive usage of renewable energy sources has become a fascinating empirical trend for clean energy cropping and efficient energy storage. Herein, a facile two-step cathodic deposition followed by anodic activation protocol has been demonstrated, using a simple DC power supply, for the preparation of NiOOH\Fe
2
O
3
composite made of amorphous NiOOH and crystalline Fe
2
O
3
confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron (XPS), Raman spectroscopy and cyclic voltammogram (CV) results. The anodic activation increases the concentration of Ni
3+
on the surface and thereby enhances the OER performance. The thin film of crystalline Fe
2
O
3
enhances the OER performance, while thick film of crystalline Fe
2
O
3
significantly decreases the OER performance of amorphous NiOOH. The NiOOH\Fe
2
O
3
composite displays the low overpotential of 325 mV@10 mA cm
−2
(1.55 V vs. RHE) with excellent long-term stability over 50 h.