Synthesis of ultrathin porous C3N4-modified Co3O4 nanosheets for enhanced oxygen evolution reaction

Recent developments of Co3O4-based materials as catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction

The demand for the development of clean and efficient energy is becoming increasingly pressing due to depleting fossil fuels and environmental concerns.

One-dimensional cobalt oxide nanotubes with rich defect for oxygen evolution reaction

For the electrochemcial hydrogen production, the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a pivotal half-reaction in water splitting. However, OER suffers sluggish kinetics and high overpotential, leading to the increase of overall energy consumption and decrease of the energy efficiency. In this work, high-quality cobalt oxide porous nanotubes (Co₃O₄-PNTs) are easily obtained by simple self-template approach. One-dimensional (1D) porous structure provides the large specific surface area, enough abundant active atoms and effective mass transfer. In addition, Co₃O₄-PNTs also own self-stability of 1D architecture, benefitting the their durability for electrocatalytic reaction. Thus, Co₃O₄-PNTs with optimal annealing temperature and time reveal the attractive alkaline OER performance (Tafel slope of 56 mV dec^-1and 323 mV overpotential at 10 mA cm^-2), which outperform the Co₃O₄nanoparticles and benchmark commercial RuO₂nanoparticles. Furthermore, Co₃O₄-PNTs also exhibit excellent OER durability for least 10 h at the 10 mA cm^-2. Overall, Co₃O₄-PNTs with low cost can be serve as a highly reactive and economical catalyst for OER.