Halides-assisted electrochemical synthesis of CU/CU_2O/CUO core-shell electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction

摘要

Constructing transition metal/metal oxides core-shell structures has been demonstrated as an efficient way to improve the poor electrical conductivity of bare metal oxides for application in oxygen evolution reaction (OER). However, the rational design and facile fabrication of metal oxides shell with high activity and high surface area remain challenging. Here, we report a facile halides-assisted electrooxidation method for the synthesis of three dimensional (3D) Cu/Cu2O/CuO hybrid foams as free-standing OER electrodes. The hybrid foams are composed of Cu core with high conductivity and Cu2O/CuO hybrid shell with nanoarray architectures which can increase the surface area and enhance the diffusion of liquid reactants and gas products. As expected, the as-prepared Cu/ Cu2O/CuO electrocatalyst exhibits an overpotential of 0.289 V at 10 mA cm(-2) as well as a long-term durability. The results of this study may be beneficial for the fabrication of hybrid hierarchical electmcatalysts and the designing of core-shell structures for gas-involving electrocatalytic reactions.