Open AccessAnchoring CoFe 2 O 4 Nanoparticles on N‐Doped Carbon Nanofibers for High‐Performance Oxygen Evolution Reaction
Author(s) -
Li Tongfei,
Lv Yinjie,
Su Jiahui,
Wang Yi,
Yang Qian,
Zhang Yiwei,
Zhou Jiancheng,
Xu Lin,
Sun Dongmei,
Tang Yawen
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
advanced science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.388
H-Index - 100
ISSN - 2198-3844
DOI - 10.1002/advs.201700226
Subject(s) - overpotential , tafel equation , materials science , oxygen evolution , catalysis , carbon nanofiber , chemical engineering , nanoparticle , water splitting , carbon fibers , nanofiber , graphene , nanotechnology , electrochemistry , carbon nanotube , chemistry , composite number , composite material , electrode , organic chemistry , photocatalysis , engineering
The exploration of earth‐abundant and high‐efficiency electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is of great significant for sustainable energy conversion and storage applications. Although spinel‐type binary transition metal oxides (AB 2 O 4 , A, B = metal) represent a class of promising candidates for water oxidation catalysis, their intrinsically inferior electrical conductivity exert remarkably negative impacts on their electrochemical performances. Herein, we demonstrates a feasible electrospinning approach to concurrently synthesize CoFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles homogeneously embedded in 1D N‐doped carbon nanofibers (denoted as CoFe 2 O 4 @N‐CNFs). By integrating the catalytically active CoFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles with the N‐doped carbon nanofibers, the as‐synthesized CoFe 2 O 4 @N‐CNF nanohybrid manifests superior OER performance with a low overpotential, a large current density, a small Tafel slope, and long‐term durability in alkaline solution, outperforming the single component counterparts (pure CoFe 2 O 4 and N‐doped carbon nanofibers) and the commercial RuO 2 catalyst. Impressively, the overpotential of CoFe 2 O 4 @N‐CNFs at the current density of 30.0 mA cm −2 negatively shifts 186 mV as compared with the commercial RuO 2 catalyst and the current density of the CoFe 2 O 4 @N‐CNFs at 1.8 V is almost 3.4 times of that on RuO 2 benchmark. The present work would open a new avenue for the exploration of cost‐effective and efficient OER electrocatalysts to substitute noble metals for various renewable energy conversion/storage applications.