Structure engineering and controllable synthesis of urchin-like Cu(OH)2 electrocatalyst for simulated seawater oxidation

Abstract

Advanced geometric and electronic structure engineering has been considered as a robust strategy for designing perfact catalysts to achieve high performances in various catalytic reactions. In recent years, using advanced catalysts to promote the oxygen evolution reaction is not only highly desired to realize seawater splitting for generating green energy but also challenging, as which requires electrocatalysts possessing characteristics of sufficient active sites, fast charger transport and excellent long-term stability. Herein, we have developed a one-pot hydrothermal method for the synthesis of urchin-like Cu(OH)₂ nanoparticles with porous structures and very rough surfaces, by using a surfactant C18N3 as template agent. It has been found that the as-prepared urchin-like Cu(OH)₂ nanoparticles possess superior porous and electronic structure, which contribute to the relative low optical bandgap energy and exceptional catalytic performances. Consequently, they display superior electrocatalytic activity than spherical Cu(OH)₂ particles in simulated seawater oxidation which has an overpotential of 345 mV at 10 mA/cm² and remarkably long-term stability of 60 h at 26 mA/cm², owing to fast charge transfer, abundant active sites and excellent long-term stability. We believe that our studies are conducive to ration design of high-performance catalysts by engineering geometric and electronic structures, which can play an important role in preparing advanced catalysts for various promising applications.