Influence of molybdenum on Co3O4 coupled N-doped reduced graphene oxide composite for improved electrocatalytic alkaline oxygen evolution reaction: Stability and mechanism insights

Abstract

The development of stable electrocatalysts for the catalysis of the electrochemical water-splitting process has become an area of particular interest in recent years. In this study, a simple interfacial method is proposed to fabricate a novel molybdenum (Mo)-substituted Co3O4 with N-doped reduced graphene oxide (N-rGO) composite for application as a high-performance oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalyst in a typical alkaline solution. Various efficient characterization methods are used to examine its structure, morphology, elemental composition, and surface area. The optimized 20MoCo/NRG composite exhibits improved electrocatalytic performance with robust electronic interfacial bonding, improved intrinsic activity, and high ECSA values. Furthermore, it exhibits remarkable electrocatalytic OER activity with a lower overpotential of 378 mV and minor Tafel slope value of 143 mV dec−1 at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 in a 1 M KOH solution compared with the other as-synthesized catalysts. Notably, the 20MoCo/NRG composite catalyst demonstrates exceptional durability for 15 h. Consequently, this effective interfacial nanostructure provides novel insights into the development of high-performance, long-lasting electrocatalysts for the water oxidation process.