Metal-organic framework-derived self-supporting metal boride for efficient electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction

Area of Science:

• Electrochemistry
• Materials Science
• Catalysis

Background:

• Metal borides are highly efficient catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER).
• Developing self-supporting metal boride electrodes presents significant design and synthesis challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a controllable boronation strategy for in-situ formation of self-supporting metal boride electrodes.
• To investigate the catalytic performance and stability of the fabricated metal boride electrodes for OER.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a metal-organic framework (MOF) precursor and a controllable boronation strategy.
• In-situ formation of metal boride on a 3D framework to create self-supporting electrodes.
• Electrochemical characterization, including overpotential and Tafel slope measurements, and long-term stability tests.

Main Results:

• Successfully fabricated self-supporting CoFe-PBA-B electrodes with multiple structures.
• Achieved a low overpotential of 255 mV at 10 mA cm⁻² and a low Tafel slope of 51 mV dec⁻¹.
• Demonstrated excellent stability, with negligible current density decrease over 40 hours of operation.

Conclusions:

• The developed boronation strategy effectively produces metal boride materials and self-supporting electrodes.
• The CoFe-PBA-B electrode exhibits superior OER catalytic activity and stability due to enhanced active sites and electronic interactions.
• This work offers a new pathway for designing and synthesizing self-supporting metal borides for electrochemical OER applications.