Metal-Organic Framework Glass Catalysts from Melting Glass-Forming Cobalt-Based Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework for...

Sluggish oxygen evolution kinetics and serious charge recombination restrict the development of photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. The advancement of novel metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) catalysts bears practical significance for improving PEC water splitting performance. Herein, a MOF glass catalyst through melting glass-forming cobalt-based zeolitic imidazolate framework (Co-a_g ZIF-62) was introduced on various metal oxide (MO: Fe₂ O₃ , WO₃ and BiVO₄ ) semiconductor substrates coupled with NiO hole transport layer, constructing the integrated Co-a_g ZIF-62/NiO/MO photoanodes. Owing to the excellent conductivity, stability and open active sites of MOF glass, Co-a_g ZIF-62/NiO/MO photoanodes exhibit a significantly enhanced photoelectrochemical water oxidation activity and stability in comparison to pristine MO photoanodes. From experimental analyses and density functional theory calculations, Co-a_g ZIF-62 can effectively promote charge transfer and separation, improve carrier mobility, accelerate the kinetics of oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and thus improve PEC performance. This MOF glass not only serves as an excellent OER cocatalyst on tunable photoelectrodes, but also enables promising opportunities for PEC devices for solar energy conversion.