Oxygen Evolution Catalysis in Water Oxidation

Water oxidation to dioxygen, known as the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), is a thermodynamically demanding four-electron process that underpins sustainable hydrogen production by electrolysis and artificial photosynthesis. Efficient OER catalysts lower the overpotential required to drive this reaction while maintaining long-term stability under acidic, neutral or alkaline conditions. Transition metal oxides, hydroxides and mixed-metal systems, including cobalt-, iron- and nickel-based materials, have emerged as leading candidates due to abundant raw elements and tunable electronic structures. Central challenges include controlling surface reconstruction, stabilising high-valent metal centres and promoting rapid proton-coupled electron transfer kinetics. Recent advances across synthesis, operando spectroscopy and computational modelling are converging on design principles that integrate ligand engineering, self-healing behaviour and precise active-site identification, moving the field closer to scalable, low-cost OER electrodes for renewable energy conversion.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have demonstrated that weak, non-covalent interactions between organic ligands and metal oxide surfaces can tune electronic states and stabilise high-valent active sites, leading to reduced overpotentials and extended operational durability. Another significant development is the design of self-healing catalysts based on earth-abundant transition-metal oxides, which continuously regenerate their active phases in situ under both acidic and alkaline conditions, thereby overcoming degradation pathways. In mixed-metal cobaltate systems, advanced spectroscopic approaches have directly detected Fe4+ species, revealing their critical role in activating cobalt centres and suggesting that precise control of iron alloying ratios can optimise catalytic turnover and Tafel behaviour.

Oxygen Evolution Catalysis in Water Oxidation publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in oxygen evolution catalysis in water oxidation across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

OER (Oxygen Evolution Reaction): The electrochemical process in which water is oxidised to oxygen, releasing protons and electrons.

Overpotential: The extra potential beyond the thermodynamic requirement needed to drive a reaction at a given rate.

High-valent metal species: Metal ions in elevated oxidation states (e.g. Co4+, Fe4+) that facilitate electron transfer during catalysis.

Proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET): The concerted movement of protons and electrons in redox reactions, often key to catalytic efficiency.

Amorphous oxide: A non-crystalline metal oxide phase with disordered atomic structure that can exhibit distinct catalytic properties.

References

1. Non-covalent ligand-oxide interaction promotes oxygen evolution. Nature Communications (2023).
2. Self-healing oxygen evolution catalysts. Nature Communications (2022).
3. Detection of high-valent iron species in alloyed oxidic cobaltates for catalysing the oxygen evolution reaction. Nature Communications (2021).
4. In Situ Identification and Time-Resolved Observation of the Interfacial State and Reactive Intermediates on a Cobalt Oxide Nanocatalyst for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction. ACS Catalysis (2022).
5. Oxygen Evolution Activity of Amorphous Cobalt Oxyhydroxides: Interconnecting Precatalyst Reconstruction, Long‐Range Order, Buffer‐Binding, Morphology, Mass Transport, and Operation Temperature. Advanced Materials (2022).