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Organic Small Molecule Activates Transition Metal Foam for Efficient Oxygen Evolution Reaction
Author(s) -
Zhang Jing,
Jiang WenJie,
Niu Shuai,
Zhang Hantang,
Liu Jie,
Li Haiyang,
Huang GuiFang,
Jiang Lang,
Huang WeiQing,
Hu JinSong,
Hu Wenping
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.201906015
Subject(s) - overpotential , materials science , oxygen evolution , graphene , electrocatalyst , transition metal , water splitting , molecule , chemical engineering , nanostructure , nanotechnology , substrate (aquarium) , electrochemistry , catalysis , electrode , chemistry , organic chemistry , oceanography , photocatalysis , geology , engineering
Developing low‐cost, highly efficient, and durable electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is essential for the practical application of electrochemical water splitting. Herein, it is discovered that organic small molecule (hexabromobenzene, HBB) can activate commercial transition metal (Ni, Fe, and NiFe) foam by directly evolving metal nanomeshes embedded in graphene‐like films (M‐NM@G) through a facile Br‐induced solid‐phase migration process. Systematic investigations indicate that HBB can conformally generate graphene‐like network on bulk metal foam substrate via the cleavage of CBr bonds and the formation of CC linkage. Simultaneously, the cleaved CBr fragments can efficiently extract metal atoms from bulk substrate, in situ producing transition metal nanomeshes embedded in the graphene‐like films. As a result, such functional nanostructure can serve as an efficient OER electrocatalyst with a low overpotential and excellent long‐term stability. Specifically, the overpotential at 100 mA cm −2 is only 208 mV for NiFe‐NM@G, ranking the top‐tier OER electrocatalysts. This work demonstrates an intriguing general strategy for directly transforming bulk transition metals into nanostructured functional electrocatalysts via the interaction with organic small molecules, opening up opportunities for bridging the application of organic small molecules in energy technologies.