Multi-purpose heterogeneous catalyst material from an amorphous cobalt metal–organic framework

Abstract

Sustainable technologies rely on the development of universal catalyst materials. While a lot of the attention has been given to improving the performance of one single catalyst material for one specific application, there is still a need to find ways to develop catalysts that can simultaneously be utilized for several chemo- and electrocatalytic processes. In this work, we have surveyed a series of novel, cobalt-based catalyst materials derived from an amorphous MOF in an array of diverged applications. Specifically, we have focused on organic transformations such as oxidative of alkylarenes and benzylic homocoupling reactions as well as several electrocatalytic processes, which directly relate to energy conversion and storage devices, such as oxygen reduction (ORR), oxygen evolution (OER) and hydrogen evolution (HER) reactions. We have observed that only one material, TAL-2-900, delivered the optimal solution. The stability and recyclability of this unique multifunctional material has been examined.