Nanoreactor of Mof-Derived Fig-Like Comoo4@Fecopx/C: Self-Arrested Growth and Enhanced Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Abstract

Hollow core-shell nanostructures are widely used in catalysis, but synergistic utilization of materials and topological structure (particularly the cavity) is still a grand challenge. Herein, we propose a self-arrested strategy to rapidly grow vast nanowires in a cavity to construct a fig-like CoMoO4@FeCoPx/C nanoreactor that can fully utilize the cavity, essentially quite different from the yolk-shell structure. The core formed by vast CoMoO4 nanowires significantly increases the specific surface area and active sites, and the FeCoPx/C-skeleton shell needled by nanowires can not only effectively inhibit agglomeration of nanowires but also promote charge transfer and improve electrical conductivity. Moreover, the leaching of partial Mo atoms results in abundant defects and accelerates the surface reconstruction to produce active Mo-CoOOH during oxygen evolution reaction (OER) process. As a result, the fig-like CoMoO4@FeCoPx/C polyhedrons exhibit enhanced OER activity while maintaining excellent durability. This work gives a novel strategy to synergistic use of materials and topological structure of nanomaterials for energy conversion and beyond.

Keywords: Nanoreactor, Fig-like, MOF-derived, Self-arrested growth, Oxygen evolution