Multiple synergies on cobalt-based spinel oxide nanowires for electrocatalytic oxygen evolution

Sirui Liu; Yuxin Shi; Di Wang; Qiulan Zhang; Xinzhi Ma; Zhuoxun Yin; Pengfei Zhou; Lili Wu; Mingyi Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2023.11.012

Multiple synergies on cobalt-based spinel oxide nanowires for electrocatalytic oxygen evolution

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2024 Feb:655:685-692. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.11.012. Epub 2023 Nov 10.

Authors

Sirui Liu¹, Yuxin Shi², Di Wang², Qiulan Zhang², Xinzhi Ma³, Zhuoxun Yin⁴, Pengfei Zhou⁵, Lili Wu², Mingyi Zhang⁶

Affiliations

¹ Jiangsu R&D Center of the Ecological Textile Engineering & Technology, Yancheng Polytechnic College, Yancheng 224005, PR China; Key Laboratory for Photonic and Electronic Bandgap Materials, Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025, PR China.
² Key Laboratory for Photonic and Electronic Bandgap Materials, Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025, PR China.
³ Key Laboratory for Photonic and Electronic Bandgap Materials, Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025, PR China; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong 999077, PR China. Electronic address: maxz@hrbnu.edu.cn.
⁴ College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Qiqihar University, Qiqihar 161006, PR China.
⁵ Jiangsu R&D Center of the Ecological Textile Engineering & Technology, Yancheng Polytechnic College, Yancheng 224005, PR China. Electronic address: zpfjsyc@126.com.
⁶ Key Laboratory for Photonic and Electronic Bandgap Materials, Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025, PR China. Electronic address: myzhangsci@hrbnu.edu.cn.

PMID: 37976741
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.11.012

Abstract

Cobalt-based spinel oxides have excellent oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activities and are cheap to produce; however, they have limited commercial applications due to their poor electrical conductivities and weak stabilities. Herein, we soaked Co_3-_xNi_xO₄ nanowires in NaBH₄ solutions, which endowed Co_3-_xNi_xO₄ with significant oxygen vacancy content and decorated BO_x motifs outside the Co_3-_xNi_xO₄ nanowires. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and in situ Raman data suggest that these evolutions improved the conductivity, hydrophilicity, and increased active sites of the spinel oxides, which synergistically boosted their overall OER performances. This improved performance made the optimized BO_x-covered Co_2.1Ni_0.9O₄ nanowires generate a current density of 10 mA cm^-2 when used for the OER at an overpotential of only 307 mV, maintaining excellent stability at 50 mA cm^-2 for 24 h. This study provides a facile method for designing cobalt-based spinel oxide OER catalysts.

Keywords: Cobalt-based spinel oxides; Decorated; Electrochemical OER; NaBH(4); Oxygen vacancy.