Inception of Co3O4 as Microstructural Support to Promote Alkaline Oxygen Evolution Reaction for Co0.85Se/Co9Se8 Network.

Developing electrocatalysts with abundant active sites is a substantial challenge to reduce the overpotential requirement for the alkaline oxygen evolution reaction (OER). In this work, we have aimed to improve the catalytic activity of cobalt selenides by growing them over the self-supported Co3O4 microrods. Initially, Co3O4 microrods were synthesized through annealing of an as-prepared cobalt oxalate precursor. The subsequent selenization of Co3O4 resulted in the formation of a grainy rodlike Co3O4/Co0.85Se/Co9Se8 network. The structural and morphological analysis reveals the presence of Co3O4 even after the selenization treatment where the cobalt selenide nanograins are randomly covered over the Co3O4 support. The resultant electrode shows superior electrocatalytic activity toward OER in alkaline medium by delivering a benchmark current density of 10 mA/cm2geo at an overpotential of 330 mV. As a comparison, we have developed Co0.85Se/Co9Se8 under similar conditions and evaluated its OER activity. This material consumes an overpotential of 360 mV to deliver the benchmark current density, which signifies the role of the Co3O4 support to improve the electrocatalytic activity of Co0.85Se/Co9Se8. Despite having a low TOF value for Co3O4/Co0.85Se/Co9Se8 (0.0076 s-1) compared to Co0.85Se/Co9Se8 (0.0102 s-1), the improved catalytic activity of Co3O4/Co0.85Se/Co9Se8 is attributed to the presence of a higher number of active sites rather than the improved per site activity. This is further supported from the Cdl (double layer capacitance) measurements where Co3O4/Co0.85Se/Co9Se8 and Co0.85Se/Co9Se8 tender Cdl values of about 8.19 and 1.08 mF/cm2, respectively, after electrochemical precondition. As-prepared Co3O4/Co0.85Se/Co9Se8 also manifests rapid kinetics (low Tafel slope ∼ 91 mV/dec), long-term stability, low charge-transfer resistance, and 82% Faradaic efficiency for alkaline electrocatalysis (pH = 14). Furthermore, the proton reaction order (ρRHE) is found to be 0.65, indicating a proton decoupled electron transfer (PDET) mechanism for alkaline OER. Thus, the Co3O4 support helps in the exposure of more catalytic sites of Co0.85Se/Co9Se8 to deliver the improved catalytic activities in alkaline medium.