Synthesis of FeNiCo Ternary Hydroxides through Green Grinding Method with Metal-Organic Frameworks as Precursors for Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

Metal-organic framework (MOF)-derived materials have been widely applied to diversified fields until now due to their flexible processibility. Different kinds of suitable materials can be synthesized by varying MOF templates/precursors and synthesis methods. An appropriate method can skillfully fabricate the materials with excellent performance while meeting the environmentally friendly concept. In this work, a green and flexible grinding method was introduced to synthesize MOF-derived FeNiCo trimetallic materials without solvent-assistance, in which Co-ZIF-L was selected as a sacrificial precursor and Fe3+ and Ni2+ as etchants and dopants. Surprisingly, the as-prepared FeNiCo ternary hydroxides supported on Ni foam (G-FeNi-Co-ZIF-L/NF) showed superior electrocatalytic performance for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) with a low overpotential of 248 mV at 10 mA cm-2 . This work provides a prospective approach to synthesize various MOF-derived multi-metallic materials, which also opens the door for syntheses of OER electrocatalysts.