Graphene-Co₃O₄ nanocomposite as electrocatalyst with high performance for oxygen evolution reaction

Yufei Zhao; Shuangqiang Chen; Bing Sun; Dawei Su; Xiaodan Huang; Hao Liu; Yiming Yan; Kening Sun; Guoxiu Wang

doi:10.1038/srep07629

Graphene-Co₃O₄ nanocomposite as electrocatalyst with high performance for oxygen evolution reaction

Sci Rep. 2015 Jan 6:5:7629. doi: 10.1038/srep07629.

Authors

Yufei Zhao¹, Shuangqiang Chen², Bing Sun², Dawei Su², Xiaodan Huang², Hao Liu², Yiming Yan³, Kening Sun³, Guoxiu Wang²

Affiliations

¹ 1] Center for Clean Energy Technology, School of Chemistry and Forensic Science, Faculty of Science, University of Technology, Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia [2] Beijing Key Laboratory for Chemical Power Source and Green Catalysis, School of Chemical Engineering and Environment, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China.
² Center for Clean Energy Technology, School of Chemistry and Forensic Science, Faculty of Science, University of Technology, Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia.
³ Beijing Key Laboratory for Chemical Power Source and Green Catalysis, School of Chemical Engineering and Environment, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China.

Abstract

Graphene-Co₃O₄ composite with a unique sandwich-architecture was successfully synthesized and applied as an efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses confirmed that Co₃O₄ nanocrystals were homogeneously distributed on both sides of graphene nanosheets. The obtained composite shows enhanced catalytic activities in both alkaline and neutral electrolytes. The onset potential towards the oxygen evolution reaction is 0.406 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) in 1 M KOH solution, and 0.858 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) in neutral phosphate buffer solution (PBS), respectively. The current density of 10 mA/cm(2) has been achieved at the overpotential of 313 mV in 1 M KOH and 498 mV in PBS. The graphene-Co₃O₄ composite also exhibited an excellent stability in both alkaline and neutral electrolytes. In particular, no obvious current density decay was observed after 10 hours testing in alkaline solution and the morphology of the material was well maintained, which could be ascribed to the synergistic effect of combining Co₃O₄ and graphene.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't