Abstract
The development of efficient electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is of great importance to energy-related necessities. Currently, the fabrication of precious metal-free electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction is a desirable and challenging task for the widespread application of water splitting. In this work, a novel lollipop-like MnO2/Co3O4 composite is prepared as an electrocatalyst for enhanced oxygen evolution reaction by using zeolitic-imidazolate framework (ZIF-67) template. The ZIF-67 is grown on the open end of MnO2 nanotube and the obtained MnO2/ZIF-67 is then converted to MnO2/Co3O4 by simple calcination treatment under air atmosphere. The lollipop-like structure of the MnO2/Co3O4 composite was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) characterizations. The lollipop-like structure consists of MnO2 nanotube and porous Co3O4 polyhedron that exhibited significant electrocatalytic activity with lowest onset potential (1.54 V vs. RHE), Tafel slope (69 mV/dec) and higher current density (84.9 mA/cm2) compared with MnO2/ZIF-67, Co3O4 and MnO2 catalyst. Therefore, it is evident that the MnO2/Co3O4 composite possesses enhanced OER activity and shows good electrochemical stability in alkaline medium, which makes it an efficient precious metal-free electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction.
Published Version
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