Unraveling the behavior of dual active sites of La2FeMnO6 for electrochemical oxygen generation in alkaline conditions

Double perovskites have received huge attention as anode materials for electrocatalysis in recent years owing to their flexibility in ion selection and ease in tuning the structural compositions. Here, we report the synthesis of double perovskite of La2FeMnO6 submicron particles using solvothermal process. The structural and morphological analysis of La2FeMnO6 indicates that material crystallizes in monoclinic phase (P21/n) with size similar to 130 nm respectively. The obtained material has been studied for the application of electrochemical oxygen generation and the observed results have been compared with their binary oxides. The overpotential is very crucial criteria for the OER; here the overpotental is defined as the potential when the OER current density reached to 10 mAcm-2. In the present work, the observed overpotential for La2FeMnO6 was 470 mV, whereas obtained Tafel slope was 110 mVdec-1. The presence of mixed valences of iron and manganese in the La2FeMnO6 material make it more prominent by exhibiting dual active sites for oxygen generation. This observation is seen for the first time.