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Updated: Sep 19, 2025
Tuning Oxide Properties by Oxygen Vacancy Control During Growth and Annealing
Published on: June 9, 2023
Synergistically Regulating the Electronic Structure and Stabilizing the Lattice Oxygen of Spinel Cobalt Oxide by Mo
Wei Wu1, Baocang Liu1, Xuan Xu1
1School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Inner Mongolia Engineering and Technology Research Center for Catalytic Conversion and Utilization of Carbon Resource Molecules, Inner Mongolia University, 49 Xilinguole South Road, Hohhot 010020, PR China.
Abstract:
Developing active and durable nonprecious metal-based electrocatalysts for the acidic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) poses a significant challenge. Cobalt (Co)-based spinel oxides are promising non-noble metal-based acidic OER electrocatalysts, but their practical applications are hindered by inadequate activity and durability due to their nonideal electronic structure and easily leached Co species. Here, a dual-cation doping strategy based on molybdenum (Mo) and praseodymium (Pr) is developed to highly enhance the acidic OER activity and stability of Co3O4 spinel. Combining experimental and theoretical studies, it is revealed that Mo and Pr codoping can cooperatively modulate the electronic properties of Co3O4 and optimize the adsorption/desorption energies of reaction intermediates. Meanwhile, it can effectively suppress the formation of oxygen vacancies by enhancing Co-O bonds and avoid the dissolution of Co species in Co3O4 under acidic conditions. More importantly, codoping Co3O4 with Mo and Pr induces a thermodynamically favorable OER reaction pathway following the oxide path mechanism (OPM), resulting in a reduced reaction energy barrier for the rate-determining step. As a result, the Mo- and Pr-codoped Co3O4 (MoPr-Co3O4) exhibits enhanced OER performance, with a low overpotential of 254 mV at 10 mA cm-2 and good long-term stability of 120 h in an acidic medium.
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