Electronic structure engineering on Co-based metal-organic frameworks for concurrent electrocatalytic hydrogen...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Developing efficient electrocatalysts is crucial for sustainable energy technologies.
• Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) offer tunable properties for catalytic applications.
• Bifunctional electrocatalysts are needed for complex processes like co-electrolysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize Ir-doped Co-based MOF nanoarrays (CoIr-MOF) as a bifunctional electrocatalyst.
• To investigate the effect of in situ Ir incorporation on electrocatalytic performance.
• To evaluate the catalyst for water-glucose co-electrolysis.

Main Methods:

• Facile one-step solvothermal synthesis of CoIr-MOF nanoarrays.
• Characterization of the synthesized nanoarrays.
• Electrochemical testing for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and glucose oxidation reaction (GOR).

Main Results:

• Successful synthesis of CoIr-MOF nanoarrays via a one-step solvothermal method.
• In situ incorporation of low-content Ir cations modulated the electronic structure of Co active sites.
• Enhanced electrocatalytic activity for both HER and glucose-to-formate oxidation.

Conclusions:

• CoIr-MOF nanoarrays are effective bifunctional electrocatalysts for water-glucose co-electrolysis.
• Ir doping is a viable strategy to boost the performance of Co-based MOFs.
• The developed method offers a facile route to advanced electrocatalytic materials.