Affiliation:
1. State Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Die & Mould Technology School of Materials Science and Engineering Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan Hubei 430074 P. R. China
2. State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, and School of Materials Science and Engineering Hainan University Haikou Hainan 570228 P. R. China
Abstract
AbstractDeveloping highly active oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts in acidic conditions is a pressing demand for proton‐exchange membrane water electrolysis. Manipulating proton character at the electrified interface, as the crux of all proton‐coupled electrochemical reactions, is highly desirable but elusive. Herein we present a promising protocol, which reconstructs a connected hydrogen‐bond network between the catalyst‐electrolyte interface by coupling hydrophilic units to boost acidic OER activity. Modelling on N‐doped‐carbon‐layer clothed Mn‐doped‐Co3O4 (Mn−Co3O4@CN), we unravel that the hydrogen‐bond interaction between CN units and H2O molecule not only drags the free water to enrich the surface of Mn−Co3O4 but also serves as a channel to promote the dehydrogenation process. Meanwhile, the modulated local charge of the Co sites from CN units/Mn dopant lowers the OER barrier. Therefore, Mn−Co3O4@CN surpasses RuO2 at high current density (100 mA cm−2 @ ~538 mV).
Funder
National Natural Science Foundation of China