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Preparation of nanostructured Cu(OH)2 and CuO electrocatalysts for water oxidation by electrophoresis deposition

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Abstract

Herein, we report the synthesis of Cu(OH)2 nanobelts with high yield at low cost by a simple aqueous solution reaction. The Cu(OH)2-FTO electrode was then fabricated by a facile electrophoresis deposition method with the as-prepared Cu(OH)2 nanobelts, which require no binding agents. By subsequent heat treatment at 300 °C for 2 h, the Cu(OH)2-FTO electrode was converted to the CuO-FTO electrode. The investigation of electrocatalysis of the Cu(OH)2-FTO and CuO-FTO electrodes for water oxidation was conducted in a 0.2 M phosphate buffer solution at pH 12. The CuO-FTO electrode can catalyze water oxidation with an impressive onset overpotential of 370 mV and an overpotential of 500 mV for a current density of 1 mA/cm2 with a low Tafel slope of 57 mV/dec. This facile fabrication strategy is appealing for realizing the practical application of Cu-based electrocatalysts for water oxidation and is expected to be extended to prepare other heterocatalyst electrodes.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21573160 and 21405114) and Science & Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (14DZ2261100).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shanghai Key Lab of Chemical Assessment and Sustainability, School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China

    Jianying Wang, Lei Zhu, Lvlv Ji & Zuofeng Chen

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  1. Jianying Wang
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Correspondence to Zuofeng Chen.

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Wang, J., Zhu, L., Ji, L. et al. Preparation of nanostructured Cu(OH)2 and CuO electrocatalysts for water oxidation by electrophoresis deposition. Journal of Materials Research 33, 581–589 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2017.378

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