Prussian-blue-analog derived hollow Co3O4/NiO decorated CeO2 nanoparticles for boosting oxygen evolution reaction

Abstract

Exploration of efficient, inexpensive, and stable electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is of great significance for energy conversion and storage. Currently, transition metal oxides (TMOs) show huge potential as electrode materials for OER due to their low-cost, rich redox chemistry and high chemical stability. In this work, we report a facile route for uniformly coating CeO 2 nanoparticles (NPs) on the surface of nickel cobalt Prussian blue analogue (NiCo-PBA) derived Co 3 O 4 /NiO hollow porous nanocubes (Co 3 O 4 /NiO HPN). The accurate control of CeO 2 content on the Co 3 O 4 / NiO HPN (Co 3 O 4 /NiO@CeO 2 HPN) surface can effectively alter the surface electronic states, which tunes the ratio of Co 2+ /Co 3+ and Ni 2+ /Ni 3+ for creating abundant oxygen vacancies. The large surface area of hollow nanocubes derived from NiCo-PBA with porous structure offers more active sites, resulting in the great promotion of OER activity. The prepared Co 3 O 4 /NiO@CeO 2 -2 HPN heterostructure exhibits remarkable OER performance with a low overpotential (290 mV at 10 mA·cm −2 ), small Tafel slope (66 mV dec −1 ) and excellent durability. The present method opens a new avenue to the preparation of low-cost and efficient electrocatalysts in OER. A novel hollow and porous heterostructure of CeO 2 nanoparticles (NPs)-decorated NiO/Co 3 O 4 hollow porous nanocubes (Co 3 O 4 /NiO@CeO 2 HPN) was designed for boosting the oxygen evolution reaction activity. • Co 3 O 4 /NiO@CeO 2 HPN electrocatalyst is designed by an easy to realize strategy. • The microstructure and surface state of the catalyst can be regulated accurately. • Active sites and oxygen vacancies are obtained for boosting the OER performance. • Integration of high catalytic activity and excellent durability together.