2D-1D Self-Assembly of Water Delaminated Co-Fe-LDH Nanosheets and CNTs via Exfoliation-Restacking Approach for...

Developing efficient, sustainable, earth-abundant, cost-effective electrocatalysts is extremely challenging. Cobalt-iron-layered double hydroxide nanosheets (Co-Fe-LDH NSs) hybridized with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) lead to anchors Co-Fe-LDH-CNTs (CFC) self-assembly with a mesoporous morphology, expanded surface area, fast charge transfer kinetics, and high electrical conductivity. The resultant anchored CFC nanohybrid is highly active for electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER), showing a lower overpotential of 221 and 313 mV at a current density of 10 and 25 mA cm^-2, respectively, compared to pristine Co-Fe-LDH (339 and 391 mV), showcasing the significant role of CNTs in improving the electrocatalytic performance of pristine Co-Fe-LDH. Further, it exhibits a Tafel slope of 85 mV dec^-1 with excellent stability retention, highlighting the practical applicability of the prepared CFC hybrid. These results emphasize the essential role of CNTs in enhancing the electrode efficiency of LDH materials when integrated into Co-Fe-LDH systems as an anchoring platform. The observed improvement in electrode performance stems from the hybridization effect exerted by CNTs, which form a highly conducting, porous and chemically stable CNT network in the CFC structure. The present findings clearly demonstrate the usefulness of the well-dispersed CNTs as a highly conducting anchoring network for exploring efficient LDH-based hybrid electrocatalysts.