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Facile engineering of Co3O4/Pr2O3 nanostructure for boosted oxygen evolution reaction

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Abstract

Water electrolysis is a propitious strategy to overcome the exceeding energy crisis by producing renewable and green hydrogen fuel. However, the practical application of this process is limited due to the inadequacy of earth-rich, economical, and efficient electrocatalysts for carrying out kinetically more sluggish oxygen evolution reactions (OER). In the present research, a simple sol–gel method was employed to produce Co3O4/Pr2O3 nanocomposite material, which provides exceptional electrical conductivity and lesser charge transfer resistance of mixed-valence cations. The fabricated nanomaterials were analyzed using various scientific techniques, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) to determine their crystal structure, morphology, elemental composition, and oxidation states. To investigate the water oxidation capability and steadiness of the modified Co3O4/Pr2O3 electrode material in alkaline conditions, cyclic voltammetry (CV), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), and constant current chronoamperometry (CA) were utilized. These outcomes revealed that the resultant nanocomposite exhibits a minimal overpotential around 257 mV and a lower Tafel slope around 78 mVdec−1 at a benchmark current density of 10 mAcm−2. In addition, the alkaline solution reliability of the electrocatalysts was examined and confirmed to be steady for 24 h via chronoamperometry. The extraordinary electrocatalytic achievement of Co3O4/Pr2O3 is ascribed to its structural synergistic effect, which encourages the oxygen evolution activity.

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Acknowledgements

K.F.F express appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University Saudi Arabia for funding through research groups program under grant number R.G.P. 2/580/44.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Polymer Laboratory, Institute of Physics, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan Pakistan, Multan, 60800, Pakistan

    Muhammad Kashif Saleem, Niaz Ahmad Niaz, Ayesha Hameed & Abdul Shakoor

  2. College of Engineering and Technology, American University of the Middle East, 54200, Egaila, Kuwait

    Karam Jabbour

  3. Institute of Chemical Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan Pakistan, Multan, 60800, Pakistan

    Sumaira Manzoor & Muhammad Naeem Ashiq

  4. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, P.O. Box 9004, 61413, Abha, Saudi Arabia

    Khaled Fahmi Fawy

  5. International Research Center for Renewable Energy (IRCRE), State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering (MPFE), Xi’an Jiaotong University, 28 West Xianning Road, Xi’an, 710049, People’s Republic of China

    Muhammad Shuaib Khan

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  1. Muhammad Kashif Saleem
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Saleem, M.K., Jabbour, K., Niaz, N.A. et al. Facile engineering of Co3O4/Pr2O3 nanostructure for boosted oxygen evolution reaction. Appl. Phys. A 129, 833 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-023-07101-2

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