Rare-earth metal multicomponent perovskite as a electrocatalyst for water splitting

•The La and Y multicomponent perovskites were firstly synthesized.•The La0.7Y0.3Co0.5Ni0.5O3 shows good OER performances.•The La0.7Y0.3Co0.5Ni0.5O3 has potential for water splitting. It is urgent to exploit non-noble metal electrocatalysts for water splitting. Herein, the multicomponent perovskites containing rare-earth metals La and Y were synthesized. The as-synthesized La0.7Y0.3Co0.5Ni0.5O3 shows a low OER overpotential of 338 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and fast kinetics, which are superior to those of commercial RuO2. Moreover, the overall water splitting voltage of La0.7Y0.3Co0.5Ni0.5O3 is 1.63 V at 10 mA cm−2, which is slightly higher than that of a commercial RuO2//Pt/C system (1.60 V).