Halides-assisted electrochemical synthesis of Cu/Cu2O/CuO core-shell electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction

• Published in: Journal of power sources Vol. 457; p. 228058
• Main Authors: Li, Rui, Xu, Jingsong, Zeng, Rongguang, Pan, Qifa, Tang, Tao, Luo, Wenhua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.05.2020
• Subjects: Copper oxides; Core-shell structure; Halides-assisted elelctrooxidation; Oxygen evolution reaction; Core-shell structure; Oxygen evolution reaction; Copper oxides; Halides-assisted elelctrooxidation
• ISSN: 0378-7753; 1873-2755
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2020.228058

Constructing transition metal/metal oxides core-shell structures has been demonstrated as an efficient way to improve the poor electrical conductivity of bare metal oxides for application in oxygen evolution reaction (OER). However, the rational design and facile fabrication of metal oxides shell with high activity and high surface area remain challenging. Here, we report a facile halides-assisted electrooxidation method for the synthesis of three dimensional (3D) Cu/Cu2O/CuO hybrid foams as free-standing OER electrodes. The hybrid foams are composed of Cu core with high conductivity and Cu2O/CuO hybrid shell with nanoarray architectures which can increase the surface area and enhance the diffusion of liquid reactants and gas products. As expected, the as-prepared Cu/Cu2O/CuO electrocatalyst exhibits an overpotential of 0.289 V at 10 mA cm−2 as well as a long-term durability. The results of this study may be beneficial for the fabrication of hybrid hierarchical electrocatalysts and the designing of core-shell structures for gas-involving electrocatalytic reactions. [Display omitted] •Halides-assisted electrooxidation was developed for Cu/Cu2O/CuO electrode synthesis.•The core-shell electrode exhibits a low onset overpotential of 0.289 V for OER.•The superior activity is ascribed to core-shell structure and nanoarray architecture.