Noble-metal-free cobalt hydroxide nanosheets for efficient electrocatalytic oxidation

Abstract

Cobalt hydroxide has been emerging as a promising catalyst for the electrocatalytic oxidation reactions, including the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and glucose oxidation reaction (GOR). Herein, we prepared cobalt hydroxide nanoparticles (CoHP) and cobalt hydroxide nanosheets (CoHS) on nickel foam. In the electrocatalytic OER, CoHS shows an overpotential of 306 mV at a current density of 10 mA·cm^–2. This is enhanced as compared with that of CoHP (367 mV at 10 mA·cm^–2). In addition, CoHS also exhibits an improved performance in the electrocatalytic GOR. The improved electrocatalytic performance of CoHS could be due to the higher ability of the two-dimensional nanosheets on CoHS in electron transfer. These results are useful for fabricating efficient catalysts for electrocatalytic oxidation reactions.

Key words： electrocatalytic oxidation; cobalt hydroxide; nanosheet; water; glucose

Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11761141006, 81822024 and 21605102) and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2017YFC1200904).

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-020-1920-2 and is accessible for authorized users.

References

1 Zhang Y, Xiao J, Lv Q, Wang S. Self–supported transition metal phosphide based electrodes as high–efficient water splitting cathodes. Frontiers of Chemical Science and Engineering, 2018, 12(3): 494–508

2 Liu T, Xie L, Yang J, Kong R, Du G, Asiri A M, Sun X, Chen L. Self–standing CoP nanosheets array: A three–dimensional bifunctional catalyst electrode for overall water splitting in both neutral and alkaline media. ChemElectroChem, 2017, 4(8): 1840–1845

3 Xiong X, Ji Y, Xie M, You C, Yang L, Liu Z, Asiri A M, Sun X. MnO₂–CoP₃ nanowires array: An efficient electrocatalyst for alkaline oxygen evolution reaction with enhanced activity. Electrochemistry Communications, 2018, 86: 161–165

4 Li P, Zhao R, Chen H, Wang H, Wei P, Huang H, Liu Q, Li T, Shi X, Zhang Y, Liu M, Sun X. Recent advances in the development of water oxidation electrocatalysts at mild pH. Small, 2019, 15(13): 1805103

5 Tang C, Zhang R, Lu W, He L, Jiang X, Asiri A M, Sun X. Fe–doped CoP nanoarray: A monolithic multifunctional catalyst for highly efficient hydrogen generation. Advanced Materials, 2017, 29(2): 1602441

6 Kang B K, Im S Y, Lee J, Kwag S H, Kwon S B, Tiruneh S N, Kim M J, Kim J H, Yang W S, Lim B, Yoon D H. In situ formation of MOF derived mesoporous Co₃N/amorphous N–doped carbon nanocubes as an efficient electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction. Nano Research, 2019, 12(7): 1605–1611

7 Wang X, Xiao H, Li A, Li Z, Liu S, Zhang Q, Gong Y, Zheng L, Zhu Y, Chen C, Constructing NiCo/Fe₃O₄ heteroparticles within MOF-74 for efficient oxygen evolution reactions. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2018, 140(45): 15336–15341

8 Deng W, Dai R, You C, Hu P, Sun X, Xiong X, Huang K, Huo F. In situ formation of a 3D amorphous cobalt-borate nanoarray: An efficient non–noble metal catalytic electrode for non–enzyme glucose detection. ChemistrySelect, 2018, 3(38): 10580–10584

9 Yang L, Feng S, Xu G, Wei B, Zhang L. Electrospun MOF-based FeCo nanoparticles embedded in nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon nanofibers as an efficient bifunctional catalyst for oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution reactions in zinc-air batteries. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 2019, 7(5): 5462–5475

10 Chen G, Zhang J, Wang F, Wang L, Liao Z, Zschech E, Mullen K, Feng X. Cobalt-based metal-organic framework nanoarrays as bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts for rechargeable Zn-air batteries. Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany), 2018, 24(69): 18413–18418

11 Huang W, Cao Y, Chen Y, Peng J, Lai X, Tu J. Fast synthesis of porous NiCo₂O₄ hollow nanospheres for a high-sensitivity non-enzymatic glucose sensor. Applied Surface Science, 2017, 396: 804–811

12 Liardet L, Hu X. Amorphous cobalt vanadium oxide as a highly active electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution. ACS Catalysis, 2018, 8(1): 644–650

13 Feng S, Liu C, Chai Z, Li Q, Xu D. Cobalt–based hydroxide nanoparticles@N-doping carbonic frameworks core-shell structures as highly efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution and oxygen reduction reactions. Nano Research, 2018, 11(3): 1482–1489

14 Zhang X, Li J, Yang Y, Zhang S, Zhu H, Zhu X, Xing H, Zhang Y, Huang B, Guo S, Wang E. Co₃O₄/Fe_0.33Co_0.66P interface nanowire for enhancing water oxidation catalysis at high current density. Advanced Materials, 2018, 30(45): 1803551

15 Yeo B S, Bell A T. Enhanced activity of gold–supported cobalt oxide for the electrochemical evolution of oxygen. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2011, 133(14): 5587–5593

16 Menezes P W, Indra A, González–Flores D, Sahraie N R, Zaharieva I, Schwarze M, Strasser P, Dau H, Driess M. High-performance oxygen redox catalysis with multifunctional cobalt oxide nanochains: Morphology-dependent activity. ACS Catalysis, 2015, 5(4): 2017–2027

17 Guo P, Wu J, Li X B, Luo J, Lau W M, Liu H, Sun X L, Liu L M. A highly stable bifunctional catalyst based on 3D Co(OH)₂@NCNTs@NF towards overall water-splitting. Nano Energy, 2018, 47: 96–104

18 Ye Z, Qin C, Ma G, Peng X, Li T, Li D, Jin Z. Cobalt-iron oxide nanoarrays supported on carbon fiber paper with high stability for electrochemical oxygen evolution at large current densities. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2018, 10(46): 39809–39818

19 Kim B, Park I, Yoon G, Kim J S, Kim H, Kang K. Atomistic investigation of doping effects on electrocatalytic properties of cobalt oxides for water oxidation. Advancement of Science, 2018, 5(12): 1801632

20 Zhang R, Zhang Y C, Pan L, Shen G Q, Mahmood N, Ma Y H, Shi Y, Jia W, Wang L, Zhang X, Xu W, Zou J J. Engineering cobalt defects in cobalt oxide for highly efficient electrocatalytic oxygen evolution. ACS Catalysis, 2018, 8(5): 3803–3811

21 Tong M, Wang L, Yu P, Liu X, Fu H. 3D Network nanostructured NiCoP nanosheets supported on N-doped carbon coated Ni foam as a highly active bifunctional electrocatalyst for hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions. Frontiers of Chemical Science and Engineering, 2018, 12(3): 417–424

22 Ji X, Zhang R, Shi X, Asiri A M, Zheng B, Sun X. Fabrication of hierarchical CoP nanosheet@microwire arrays via space-confined phosphidation toward high-efficiency water oxidation electrocatalysis under alkaline conditions. Nanoscale, 2018, 10(17): 7941–7945

23 Ding D, Shen K, Chen X, Chen H, Chen J, Fan T, Wu R, Li Y. Multi-level architecture optimization of MOF-templated Co-based nanoparticles embedded in hollow N-doped carbon polyhedra for efficient OER and ORR. ACS Catalysis, 2018, 8(9): 7879–7888

24 Li M, Bai L, Wu S, Wen X, Guan J. Co/CoO_x nanoparticles embedded on carbon for efficient catalysis of oxygen evolution and oxygen reduction reactions. ChemSusChem, 2018, 11(10): 1722–1727

25 Xie M, Yang L, Ji Y, Wang Z, Ren X, Liu Z, Asiri A M, Xiong X, Sun X. An amorphous Co-carbonate-hydroxide nanowire array for efficient and durable oxygen evolution reaction in carbonate electrolytes. Nanoscale, 2017, 9(43): 16612–16615

26 Gu W, Hu L, Zhu X, Shang C, Li J, Wang E. Rapid synthesis of Co₃O₄ nanosheet arrays on Ni foam by in situ electrochemical oxidization of air-plasma engraved Co(OH)₂ for efficient oxygen evolution. Chemical Communications, 2018, 54(90): 12698–12701

27 Zhang L, Liang Q, Yang P, Huang Y, Chen W, Deng X, Yang H, Yan J, Liu Y. Flower-like Co₃O₄ microstrips embedded in Co foam as a binder-free electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2019, 44(44): 24209–24217

28 Li Y, Zhang L, Peng K. Synthesis of urchin-like Co₃O₄ spheres for application in oxygen evolution reaction. Nanotechnology, 2018, 29(48): 485403

29 Miao X, Zhou S, Wu L, Zhao J, Shi L. Spin-state transition enhanced oxygen evolving activity in misfit-layered cobalt oxide nanosheets. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 2018, 6(9): 12337–12342

30 Li Y, Li F M, Meng X Y, Wu X R, Li S N, Chen Y. Direct chemical synthesis of ultrathin holey iron doped cobalt oxide nanosheets on nickel foam for oxygen evolution reaction. Nano Energy, 2018, 54: 238–250

31 Chen L, Zhang Y, Wang H, Wang Y, Li D, Duan C. Cobalt layered double hydroxides derived CoP/Co₂P hybrids for electrocatalytic overall water splitting. Nanoscale, 2018, 10(45): 21019–21024

32 Kou Y, Liu J, Li Y, Qu S, Ma C, Song Z, Han X, Deng Y, Hu W, Zhong C. Electrochemical oxidation of chlorine-doped Co(OH)₂ nanosheet arrays on carbon cloth as a bifunctional oxygen electrode. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2018, 10(1): 796–805

33 Luo Y, Li X, Cai X, Zou X, Kang F, Cheng H M, Liu B. Two-dimensional MoS₂ confined Co(OH)₂ electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution in alkaline electrolytes. ACS Nano, 2018, 12(5): 4565–4573

34 Xu Y, Xie L, Li D, Yang R, Jiang D, Chen M. Engineering Ni(OH)₂ nanosheet on CoMoO₄ nanoplate array as efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 2018, 6(12): 16086–16095

35 Chen H, Sun P, Qiu M, Jiang M, Zhao J, Han D, Niu L, Cui G. Co-P decorated nanoporous copper framework for high performance flexible non-enzymatic glucose sensors. Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, 2019, 841: 119–128

36 Tao Y, Liu Q, Chang Q, Duan J, Tao Z, Guan H, Chen G, Mao Y, Xie J, Dong C.In situ fabrication of Co(OH)₂ by hydrothermal treating Co foil in MOH (M= H, Li, Na, K) for non-enzymatic glucose detection. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2019, 781: 1033–1039

37 Xie F, Cao X, Qu F, Asiri A M, Sun X. Cobalt nitride nanowire array as an efficient electrochemical sensor for glucose and H₂O₂ detection. Sensors and Actuators. B, Chemical, 2018, 255: 1254–1261