Finely tunable morphology controlled synthesis of spinel-cobalt oxide nanostructures and their electrocatalytic applications

Abstract

Herein, we synthesize four morphologies of spinel-Co3O4 nanostructures, including rice-, dumbbell sheet-, nanoboxes-, and nanosheets spheres using a hydrothermal strategy. The surface morphology and size of the Co3O4 nanostructures are characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray diffraction(XRD), and electrochemical methods. Among the other Co3O4 nanostructures, nanosheets spheres- like morphology display a significantly enhanced electrochemical oxidation of sulfite (SO32−) in terms of higher anodic current density (1.50 mA cm−2) and low onset oxidation potential (∼1.10 V vs RHE). The Co3O4 nanosheets spheres offer a large surface area, and numerous active sites for accessing numerous sulfite molecules for efficient and enhanced electrocatalytic responses. Further, the Co3O4 nanosheets spheres based electrode display a low Rp value, and high durability when compared to other nanostructured electrodes. Thus, the Co3O4 nanostructured materials are versatile candidates, and offer a new optimism for use in various electrochemical technological applications.