Issue 3, 2021

Improving the electrocatalytic performance of sustainable Co/carbon materials for the oxygen evolution reaction by ultrasound and microwave assisted synthesis

Abstract

The design of sustainable procedures for the preparation of cobalt/carbon-based materials as an anode for hydrogen fuel production through electrocatalytic water splitting has attracted much interest in the last few years. Herein, a novel environmentally friendly approach for the development of stable and active catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is reported. In detail, the methodology aimed at developing a sequence of composites having a low cobalt loading (<4%wt) using polyphenols extracted from green tea as metal stabilizers and activated carbon derived from pinecones as a metal-support as well as a co-active material. The approach exploited ultrasound (US), microwave (MW) and combined US/MW-assisted techniques with the purpose of enhancing the final electrocatalytic activity of these new composites, replacing conventional high-temperature approaches. The results indicated that the so-produced electrocatalytic materials followed the order of activity US > MW/US > MW > conventional heating, with the best sample requiring an overpotential of 365 mV to deliver a current density of 10 mA cm−2 and a Tafel slope of 58 mV dec−1.

Graphical abstract: Improving the electrocatalytic performance of sustainable Co/carbon materials for the oxygen evolution reaction by ultrasound and microwave assisted synthesis

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
09 Nhl 2020
Accepted
10 N’w 2020
First published
11 N’w 2020

Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2021,5, 720-731

Improving the electrocatalytic performance of sustainable Co/carbon materials for the oxygen evolution reaction by ultrasound and microwave assisted synthesis

A. Zuliani, M. Cano, F. Calsolaro, A. R. Puente Santiago, J. J. Giner-Casares, E. Rodríguez-Castellón, G. Berlier, G. Cravotto, K. Martina and R. Luque, Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2021, 5, 720 DOI: 10.1039/D0SE01505A

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