Enhanced Electron Transfer and Ion Transport by Binary and Multidimensional CuCo2S4/Fe2O3 on Carbon Cloth for Water Oxidation

The behavior of electron transfer and ion transport plays a significant role in the electrocatalytic activity. However, the improvement of CuCo2S4 electrocatalytic activity has been a difficult problem owing to lack of effective electron transfer and ion transport. Herein, the unique structure connected CuCo2S4 nanosheets and carbon cloth (CC) with Fe2O3 nanoparticles to form CuCo2S4/Fe2O3/CC. Compared with CuCo2S4/CC, the resistances of electron transfer and ion transport were decreased by 65 and 84 %, respectively. The electrochemical surface area of CuCo2S4/Fe2O3/CC was 2.76 times larger than that of CuCo2S4/CC due to the high double-layer capacitance. For the oxygen evolution reaction, CuCo2S4/Fe2O3/CC could achieve an overpotential of 273 mV and a Tafel slope of 67 mV dec(-1) in alkaline solution.

Automated summary

The structure of CuCo2S4/Fe2O3/CC effectively reduced the resistance of electron transfer and ion transport, leading to a significantly larger electrochemical surface area compared to CuCo2S4/CC. This improved design achieved an overpotential of 273 mV and a Tafel slope of 67 mV dec(-1) for the oxygen evolution reaction in alkaline solution.