Nitrogen-Doped Cobalt Oxide Nanostructures Derived fromCobalt-Alanine Complexesfor High-Performance Oxygen Evolution Reactions

Xinran Li, Jilei Wei, Qing Li, Shasha Zheng, Yuxia Xu, Pan Du, Changyun Chen, Jiyang Zhao, Huaiguo Xue, Qiang Xu* and Huan Pang*

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University

Taking advantage of the self-assembling function of amino acids, cobalt-alanine complexes were synthesized by straightforward process of chemical precipitation. Through a controllable calcination of the cobalt-alanine complexes, N-doped Co₃O₄nanostructures (N-Co₃O₄) and N-doped CoO composites with amorphous carbon (N-CoO/C) were obtained. These N-doped cobalt oxide materials with novel porous nanostructures and minimal oxygen vacancies show a highly active and stable oxygenevolutionreaction. Moreover, the influence of calcination temperature, electrolyte concentration and electrode substrate to the reaction are compared and analyzed. And the results of experiments and DFT calculations account for that N-doping promotes the catalytic activity through improving electronic conductivity, increasing OH^-adsorption strength and accelerating reaction kinetics. Using a simple synthetic strategy, N-Co₃O₄reserves the structural advantages of micro/nanostructured complexes, showing exciting potential as a catalyst for anoxygen evolution reactionwith good stability.

Adv. Funct. Mater.2018, 1800886 IF:12.124

链接：https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adfm.201800886