High-valent Zirconium-doping modified Co3O4 weave-like nanoarray boosts oxygen evolution reaction

It is urgently crucial to design high-performance and low-cost electrocatalysis for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) toward associated renewable energy systems. Herein, we reported that a certain amount of Zirconium doping in Co3O4 can regulate the electronic structure and morphology, therefore, boost the OER electrocatalytic performance. Zr doped Co3O4 demonstrates more excellent OER activity than pure Co3O4, as confirmed by density functional theory (DFT) calculations and experimental results, where the acceleration of potential rate-determining step and the improvement of conductivity are attributed to the introduction of Zr-dopants. Specifically, the as-synthesized 3D Zr-Co3O4/NF exhibits prominent OER activity with low overpotential 307 mV to drive current density of 20 mA cm(-2), modest Tafel slope of 99 mV dec(-1) and robust stability in 1 M KOH electrolyte. Our work reveals a novel approach to disclose Zr as a feasible dopant to optimize electronic structure and OER catalytic performance of metal oxides, and also proves the guiding role of DFT calculations for reasonable preparation of high-efficiency OER catalysts. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study demonstrates that Zr-doped Co3O4 can enhance OER activity by regulating electronic structure and conductivity, providing a new approach to optimize catalytic performance of metal oxides. The results highlight the guiding role of DFT calculations in the rational design of high-efficiency OER catalysts.