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Dual template-induced construction of three-dimensional porous SiO2/NC/Co-CNTs heterostructure with highly dispersed active sites for efficient oxygen evolution reaction

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Abstract

The development and exploration of efficient and economical electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) represents the main bottleneck to unlocking a sustainable energy scenario based on electrocatalytic water splitting. Nanoscale integration of three-dimensional (3D) porous heterostructure with highly dispersed active sites and good structural stability is challenging. Herein, a dual template route is developed to construct the 3D porous SiO2/nitrogen-doped carbon (NC)/Co-carbon nanotubes (CNTs) heterostructure. Importantly, the hard template (SiO2 nanospheres) contributes to 3D porous structure, increases the specific surface area, and promotes the contact area of the electrolyte. At the same time, the soft template (basic zinc carbonate) can control the growth of 1D CNTs and facilitate the exposure of the active sites. Apparently, 3D porous SiO2/NC/Co-CNTs heterostructure inherits highly dispersed Co nanoparticles coated by NC. CNTs conductive channels and abundant N heteroatoms doping are reasonably constructed by a dual template strategy. Therefore, SiO2/NC/Co-CNTs catalyst provides an extraordinary activity for the OER in alkaline media, with a low overpotential of 298 mV at a current density of 10 mA·cm−2. Furthermore, SiO2/NC/Co-CNTs heterostructure enables excellent long-term durability with a 10 mV decay in overpotential after 3000 cyclic voltammetry cycles, and 97% remain in current density over 20 h. It is believed that this dual template strategy can provide a new and simple way to construct a highly dispersed active site in electrocatalysts.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 22269010), Jiangxi Provincial Natural Science Foundation (No. 20224BAB214021), the Training Program for Academic and Technical Leaders of Major Disciplines in Jiangxi Province (No. 20212BCJ23020), and the Science and Technology Project of Jiangxi Provincial Department of Education (No. GJJ211305).

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  1. Hai-Qi Zhang and Xiao-Jun Zeng contributed equally to this work.

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  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jingdezhen Ceramic University, Jingdezhen, 333403, China

    Hai-Qi Zhang, Xiao-Jun Zeng, Qing-Qing Zhang, Zu-Liang Zhang & Chu-Long Jin

  2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China

    Rong-Hai Yu

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Zhang, HQ., Zeng, XJ., Zhang, QQ. et al. Dual template-induced construction of three-dimensional porous SiO2/NC/Co-CNTs heterostructure with highly dispersed active sites for efficient oxygen evolution reaction. Tungsten 6, 585–595 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42864-023-00253-x

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