From Hydrogen Bond to van der Waals Force: Molecular Scalpel Strategy to Exfoliate a Two-Dimensional Metal-Organic Nanosheet.

The facile exfoliation of a two-dimensional metal-organic nanosheet of {[Co(HL)(H 2 O)(Py) 3/4 ]· 1 / 2 H 2 O·DMF} n [ 1-Py ; H 3 L = 5-(1 H -pyrazol-4-yl)isophthalic acid and Py = pyridine] was achieved, via a molecular scalpel strategy, by weakening intermolecular forces between adjacent layers. The resulting 1-Py/KB40 (KB = Ketjen black) shows an increased oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance with an overpotential of 370 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm -2 and a Tafel slope of 58 mV dec -1 . This work sheds light on the structure-morphology-reactivity relationship of such materials in OER.