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Engineering Twins within Lattice-Matched Co/CoO Heterostructure Enables Efficient Hydrogen Evolution Reactions.
Taili Yang1, Yaotian Yan1, Ruonan Liu1
1State Key Laboratory of Precision Welding and Joining of Materials and Structure, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China.
Engineered cobalt/cobalt oxide heterostructures with twin boundaries enhance hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance. This novel strain engineering approach optimizes electrocatalyst electronic structure for efficient water splitting.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Electrochemistry
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Twinning is a strain engineering strategy with potential for transition metal electrocatalysts.
- Controllable construction and structure-activity relationships of twins in electrocatalysts are challenging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To engineer a lattice-matched Co/CoO heterostructure with enriched twin boundaries.
- To investigate the structure-activity relationships of twinning in electrocatalysts.
- To optimize the electronic structure for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).
Main Methods:
- Engineered Co/CoO heterostructure using flash Joule heating.
- Utilized X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) analysis to study coordination numbers and atomic displacement.
- Investigated electronic structure modifications, including d-band center downshifting and band flattening.
Main Results:
- Achieved a Co/CoO heterostructure with enriched twin boundaries via lattice matching.
- XAFS revealed reduced Co coordination numbers and substantial atomic displacement.
- Demonstrated an ultralow overpotential of 49 mV at 10 mA cm-2 for HER in alkaline media.
- Achieved remarkable stability over 500 h and efficient water splitting at a cell voltage of 2.05 V at 1 A cm-2.
Conclusions:
- Coherent twinning interfaces induce strain, optimizing the electronic structure for HER.
- The engineered heterostructure shows exceptional performance and stability for electrocatalytic water splitting.
- This work provides a new pathway for designing high-performance electrocatalysts through controlled twinning.
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