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ZIF67-derived ultrafine Co9S8 nanoparticles embedded in nitrogen-doped hollow carbon nanocages for enhanced performances of trifunctional ORR/OER/HER and overall water splitting

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Abstracts

Electrochemical oxidation and reduction reactions are fundamental in various conversion and energy storage devices. Functional materials derived from MOFs have been considered promising as electrical catalysts for ORR, HER, and OER, which can be used in Zinc-air batteries and water electrolysis. Herein, we designed a novel approach to fabricating the ultrafine Co9S8 embedded nitrogen-doped hollow carbon nanocages (Co9S8@N-HC). The method involved a process of sulfidation of cobalt-based metal–organic frameworks (ZIF67) and then coating them with polypyrrole (PPy). PPy has notable properties such as high electrical conductivity and abundant nitrogen content, rendering it highly promising for catalytic applications. The Co9S8@N-HC catalyst was successfully synthesized via the carbonization of CoSx@PPy. Remarkably, the Co9S8@N-HC catalyst demonstrated exceptional electrocatalytic activity, requiring only low overpotentials of 285 mV and 201 mV at 10 mA cm‒2 for OER and HER, respectively, and exhibited high activity for ORR, with an onset potential (Eonset) of 0.923 V and half-wave potential (E1/2) of 0.879 V in alkaline media. The electrocatalytic efficiency displayed by Co9S8@N-HC opens a new line of research on the synergistic effect of MOF-PPy materials on energy storage and conversion.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Programs (2019R1A2C1090693, 2020R1A6A1A03048004) and the Brain Pool Program (2022H1D3A2A02079453) through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by Ministry of Science and ICT, Republic of Korea.

Funding

This work was funded by Ministry of Science and ICT,South Korea (Grand numbers NRF-2019R1A2C1090693, NRF-2020R1A6A1A03048004, NRF-2022H1D3A2A02079453).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering (Integrated Engineering), Kyung Hee University, 1732, Deogyeong-daero, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, 17104, Republic of Korea

    Quoc Hao Nguyen, Kyungmin Im, Thach N. Tu, Jongwook Park & Jinsoo Kim

  2. Nguyen Tat Thanh University, 300A Nguyen Tat Thanh Street, District 4, Ho Chi Minh, 755414, Vietnam

    Thach N. Tu

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Contributions

Quoc Hao Nguyen: Conceptualization, Investigation, Writing-original draft. Kyungmin Im: Writing-Review & Editing, Supervision. Thach N Tu: Investigation, Writing-Review & Editing. Jongwook Park: Writing-Review & Editing, Funding acquisition. Jinsoo Kim: Writing-Review & Editing, Supervision, Funding acquisition.

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Correspondence to Jinsoo Kim.

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Nguyen, Q.H., Im, K., Tu, T.N. et al. ZIF67-derived ultrafine Co9S8 nanoparticles embedded in nitrogen-doped hollow carbon nanocages for enhanced performances of trifunctional ORR/OER/HER and overall water splitting. Carbon Lett. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42823-024-00733-1

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