无模板合成微米管状Co3O4基复合材料高效催化电解水析氧反应

电解水制氢因具有清洁高效的优点而被认为是大规模生产氢能最有希望的技术之一.然而,电解水半反应之一的析氧反应(OER)需经历复杂且动力学缓慢的4电子转移过程.加之热力学上的阻碍,OER实际需要的电位远大于1.23 V的理论值,导致其能耗高,限制了电解水的效率和商业化应用.因此,亟待开发高效的OER电催化剂.管状结构具有较高的比表面积、充分暴露的活性位点和丰富的短路径扩散通道,是一种理想的电催化结构.同时,Co3O4基材料因其制备容易、成本低和OER电催化学活性较高等特点,成为近年来电催化材料的研究热点.此外,非金属元素P的掺杂条件温和,并且可以有效改变过渡金属电子结构.因此,本文通过合理设计管状的Co3O4基电催化剂并进行P掺杂,尝试将形貌调控和元素改性的优势发挥到最大.为了解析影响生成管状结构的因素,本文通过控制变量法系统地研究了管状Ni/Co3O4的制备条件,包括阳离子种类和含量、添加剂种类和含量、阴离子种类等对催化剂形貌和性能的影响.表征结果表明,初始的乙酸钴镍氢氧化物棱柱对反应环境较为敏感,从而成为直接影响最终微米管状结构的关键因素.此外,对Ni/Co3O4微米管进行适量的P掺杂,能提高材料的电子传输性能和优化材料的电子结构;而且P的掺杂直接提高了样品中的M3+/M2+比例(M代表Co和Ni),而M3+是M基电催化材料的活性位点,这进一步增加了OER的活性位点进而提高其催化活性.总之,通过结构和成分的优化,得到了OER催化性能显著提高的微米管状P-Ni/Co3O4,其性能甚至超过了商业化RuO2电催化剂.

Template-free synthesis of Co3O4 microtubes for enhanced oxygen evolution reaction

To fully exploit the superiority of tubular structures, in this study, we systematically explore the optimal preparation conditions for Ni/Co3O4, including cation species and content, additive species and content, and anion species. Our results reveal that the formation of an initial cobalt nickel ace-tate hydroxide prism is the key factor and directly affects the final microtubular structure. Moreo-ver, P is subsequently doped into the Ni/Co3O4 lattice to increase the M3+/M2+molar ratio (M=Co and Ni), promote reaction kinetics, and optimize electronic structure. Consequently, the oxygen evolution reaction performance of P-doped tubular Ni/Co3O4 is significantly higher than that of undoped Ni/Co3O4 and the state-of-the-art RuO2 electrocatalyst.