Heterostructure of Fe-Doped CoMoO/CoMoO as an Efficient Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Catalysis

Background:

• The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is critical for energy applications like water splitting and CO2 reduction.
• Developing efficient, cost-effective electrocatalysts is essential to overcome OER's sluggish kinetics.
• Transition-metal-based catalysts are promising candidates for OER applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and characterize a novel core-shell nanostructure of Fe-doped CoMoO/CoMoO (CMFO) for enhanced OER performance.
• To investigate the structure-activity relationship of the CMFO catalyst.
• To evaluate the electrocatalytic activity and stability of CMFO for the OER.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of core-shell Fe-doped CoMoO/CoMoO (CMFO) nanostructures.
• Characterization of the synthesized materials using various analytical techniques.
• Electrochemical evaluation of CMFO and pristine CoMoO (CMO) catalysts for OER.

Main Results:

• The synthesized CMFO exhibited excellent electrocatalytic properties for OER.
• An amorphous layer of Fe-doped CoMoO with oxygen vacancies in CMFO enhanced catalytic activity.
• The optimized CMFO-550 catalyst showed lower overpotential, Tafel slope, and remarkable long-term stability (>90 h) compared to CMO-550.

Conclusions:

• Fe-doped CoMoO/CoMoO core-shell nanostructures are highly efficient electrocatalysts for the OER.
• The unique nanostructure and presence of oxygen vacancies contribute to the enhanced catalytic performance.
• CMFO-550 presents a cost-effective and stable alternative for OER applications in energy conversion and storage.