Novel Heterostructure-Based CoFe and Cobalt Oxysulfide Nanocubes for Effective Bifunctional Electrocatalytic Water and Urea Oxidation

Athibala Mariappan, Pandian Mannu, Kugalur Shanmugam Ranjith, Ta Thi Thuy Nga, Young Kyu Han, Chung Li Dong, Ranjith Kumar Dharman, Tae Hwan Oh

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

The development of effective oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and urea oxidation reaction (UOR) on heterostructure electrocatalysts with specific interfaces and characteristics provides a distinctive character. In this study, heterostructure nanocubes (NCs) comprising inner cobalt oxysulfide (CoOS) NCs and outer CoFe (CF) layered double hydroxide (LDH) are developed using a hydrothermal methodology. During the sulfidation process, the divalent sulfur ions (S2−) are released from the breakdown of the sulfur source and react with the Co-precursors on the surface leading to the transformation of CoOH nanorods into CoOS nanocubes. Further, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) analyses reveal that the interactions at the interface of the CF@CoOS NCs significantly altered the electronic structure, thus enhancing the electrocatalytic performance. The optimal catalysts exhibited effective OER and UOR activities, the attained potentials are 1.51 and 1.36 V. This remarkable performance is attributable to the induction of electron transfer from the CoFe LDH to CoOS, which reduces the energy barrier of the intermediates for the OER and UOR. Furthermore, an alkaline water and urea two-cell electrolyzer assembled using CF@CoOS-2 NCs and Pt/C as the anode and cathode requires a cell voltage of 1.63 and 1.56 V along with a durability performance.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2310112
JournalSmall
Volume20
Issue number26
DOIs
StatePublished - 26 Jun 2024

Keywords

  • CoFe-LDH
  • CoOS
  • OER and UOR
  • nanocubes

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