High-efficient catalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is of great concern in improving energy efficiency for water splitting. Here we report a high-performance OER electrocatalyst of nickel-tungsten-phosphorus (NiWP) film prepared by template method. This free-standing ternary electrocatalyst exhibits a remarkable electrocatalytic activity of OER in alkaline medium due to the synergetic effect among these elements and the good electrical conductivity. The reported NiWP composite catalyst has an overpotential of as low as 0.4 V (vs. RHE) at 30 mA cm(-2), better than that of the commercial RuO2 catalyst. Moreover, a small charge transfer resistance of 4.06 Omega and a Tafel slope of 68 mV dec(-1) demonstrate the outstanding catalytic activity. (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V.