Sonication-Induced Boladipeptide-Based Metallogel as an Efficient Electrocatalyst for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Area of Science:

• Materials Science: Development of novel bioinspired, self-assembled hybrid materials.
• Electrochemistry: Investigation of electrocatalytic activity for energy conversion applications.

Background:

• Bioinspired, self-assembled hybrid materials are promising for energy conversion.
• Efficient electrocatalysts are crucial for sustainable energy technologies like water splitting.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and characterize a sonication-induced boladipeptide-based nickel-coordinated polymeric nanohybrid hydrogel (Ni-PBFY).
• To evaluate the electrocatalytic performance of the Ni-PBFY hydrogel for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER).
• To investigate the OER mechanism using theoretical calculations.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of boladipeptide (PBFY) and its nickel-based nanohybrid hydrogel (Ni-PBFY).
• Morphological studies using nanofibrillar network analysis.
• Surface and electronic structure analysis via XPS, XANES, and EXAFS.
• Electrochemical evaluation of OER activity in alkaline media.
• Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations for mechanistic insights.

Main Results:

• Ni-PBFY hydrogels exhibit nanofibrillar network structures.
• The Ni-PBFY-3 electrocatalyst shows an ultralow Tafel slope (74 mV dec⁻¹) and low overpotential (164 mV at 10 mA cm⁻²).
• The catalyst demonstrates high stability over 100 hours of chronopotentiometry.
• DFT calculations confirm high intrinsic activity and validate experimental overpotential values.

Conclusions:

• The developed Ni-PBFY-3 hydrogel is a highly efficient and stable electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction.
• This biomolecule-assisted approach offers a new strategy for designing advanced electrocatalysts.
• The findings have significant implications for the field of green energy conversion.