Ni stabilized rock-salt structured CoO; Co Ni O: tuning of e electrons to develop a novel OER catalyst.

The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a key half-reaction in hydrogen-oxygen electrolysers that is very important for efficient electrochemical energy generation, storage and fuel production that offers a clean alternative to fissile fuel combustion based energy systems. Several transition metal containing perovskites were recently explored for the development of superior OER catalysts, and their activity was correlated with the applied potentials at a specific current density to e electron density present in the materials. The rock salt structure is envisaged here as a model host structure similar to perovskite to tune the e electrons to obtain superior electro-catalytic activity.