Nature-Inspired Synthesis of Nanostructured Electrocatalysts through Mineralization of Calcium Carbonate

Biomineralization is a biogenic process that produces elaborate inorganic and organic hybrid materials in nature. Inspired by the natural process, this study explored a new mineralization approach to create nanostructured CaCO₃ films composed of amorphous CaCO₃ hemispheres by using catechol-rich polydopamine (PDA) as a biomimetic mediator. The thus synthesized biomimetic CaCO₃ was successfully transformed to nanostructured films of metal-oxide minerals, such as FeOOH, CoCO₃ , NiCO₃ , and MnOOH, through a simple procedure. The CaCO₃ -templated metal-oxide minerals functioned as efficient electrocatalysts; a CaCO₃ -templated cobalt phosphate (nanoCoPi) film exhibited high stability as a water-oxidation electrocatalyst with a current density of 1.5 mA cm^-2 . The nanostructure of nanoCoPi, consisting of individual nanoparticles (≈70 nm) and numerous internal pores (BET surface area: 3.17 m²  g^-1 ), facilitated an additional charge-transfer pathway from the electrode to individual active sites of the catalyst. This work demonstrates a plausible strategy for facile and green synthesis of nanostructured electrocatalysts through biomimetic CaCO₃ mineralization.