Fossil fuels now account for the vast majority of the world's energy [1], and these energy carriers must be phased out due to their rapid depletion, environmental contamination, and carbon footprints. To compete with fossil fuels, scientists are exploring new renewable energy sources [2]. Long-term energy allocation is getting increasingly difficult as energy distribution networks grow more efficient [3], and if energy is available indefinitely, an increase in industrial output is achievable [4]. The electron transfer process allows the renewable energy to be stored in chemical bonds [5–7]. Renewable energy sources include biofuels, solar electricity, wind power, and water power [8, 9]. Because of its great efficiency and low environmental impact, hydrogen (H2) is often promoted as a potential option to meet the growing global demand for clean and renewable energy resources [10–13]. On the one hand, finding a cost-effective, convenient, and ecologically friendly means to obtain H2 gas [14–16]. It was created in reaction to an imminent primary resource shortage, as well as the low conversion efficiency and environmental concerns [17, 18]. When using renewable energy sources like wind [19], geothermal [20], and solar power [21], electrochemical water splitting has proven to be a viable choice among many others [22–24]. One of a number of alternatives, oxygen evolution (OER) and hydrogen evolution (HER) processes can be used in a variety of ways to electrolyze the water [25–27].
The practical results for electrolytic polarization-induced overpotentials (e.g. 1.50 V) are sometimes substantially different from theoretical expectations (1.23 V) [28, 29]. When it comes to improving reaction rates on a large scale, commercial application of precious metal electrocatalysts like IrO2/RuO2 for OER and Pt-based materials for HER is limited by high costs, lack of availability, and monotonous activity [30–32]. There has been ongoing research into metal-based materials such as oxides and hydroxides, phosphides, nitrides, and carbides [33–35]. There are various advantages to using OER electrocatalysts, which can sustain activity and stability in alkaline electrolytes while lowering capital and operating expenses [36]. At alkaline concentrations, however, OER electrocatalysts struggle to maintain their high activity and long life [37]. If electrocatalysts are to be effective, they must consider a number of criteria, like charge transfer to surface reaction sites is enabled by electrocatalysts with higher electric conductivity than the substrate electrodes [38]. In order to provide more readily accessible active zones for higher currents, they must have a larger specific surface area than substrate electrodes [39]. To lower activation energy, electrocatalysts must change their hierarchical structure. This can be accomplished by altering the electrocatalysts' chemical and physical properties. The chemistry and electrical conductivity of an electrocatalytic surface active site can be fine-tuned to some extent. The easiest technique to enhance the number of active sites and mass diffusion capacity of electrocatalysts is to make them porous [40]. One of the most promising catalysts is porous materials, which have demonstrated their efficiency in a range of chemical reactions [41]. Because of their distinct physical and chemical properties, porous materials have a number of benefits over bulk materials when it comes to water-splitting electrocatalysts [42, 43].
In an effort to increase the electrochemical performance, metal chalcogenides-based electrode materials have recently been investigated [44], and outperform their micron-sized equivalents in terms of performance. Higher quantities of surface oxygen binding energy are required for OER activity. The telluride based material has received little attention for OER catalysis, despite its metallic nature [45]. As a result, metal tellurides have better electrical conductivity, mechanical strength, rate capability, and cycling stability due to their synergistic benefits [46]. As far as we know, no one has ever employed hydrothermal synthesis to produce SrTe as an electrocatalyst to improve the electrochemical activity or electrode material durability. Due to the presence of telluride, the strontium tellurides exhibit high specific capacitance and a high level of stability. The electrochemical characteristics of synthesized catalyst is exceptional because of their more active sites, ion dispersion, and enhanced electron transmission may be expedited, and all the activities are discussed below.