The octahedral distortion promotes the dynamic reconstruction for enhanced water oxidation

Abstract

Herein, we demonstrate that distorted CoO6 octahedra in K2Co3(P2O7)2 efficiently promote the surface oxidation. Specifically, the octahedral distortion can increase unpaired d electrons, thereby facilitating the intermediate adsorption, structural reconstruction and electron transfer processes to boost water oxidation activity. It establishes a direct correlation between the intrinsic structure and the electrochemical reconstruction.