Metal oxide/carbon nanosheet arrays derivative of stacked metal organic frameworks for triggering oxygen evolution reaction

Numerous clean energy systems rely on the oxygen evolution process (OER), which takes place during water splitting reaction. For this purpose, transition-metal oxides have garnered considerable attentions as a prominent OER electrocatalysts. In present study, we fabricate the nanosheet arrays of metal oxide/carbon (MOx/C; M = Fe, Ag, and Mn) fabricated via hydrothermal route. As templates, this approach employs the covered 2-dimensional (2D) metal-organic frameworks (2D-MOFs), and these MOx/C arrays made from 2D MOFs exhibit significant electrocatalytic activity and durability. Among all, Ag2O/C showed the overpotentials of 270 mV at a current density (j) of 10 mA cm (2), while the tafel slope is 45 mV dec (1), that is lower than other metal oxide-based catalysts like MnO/C, and Fe2O3/C. It also shows 48 h high stability due to the conductive nature, larger surface area and the presence of carbon cage for easy transfer of electrons. The conceptual framework and synthetic strategy employed in this study can be applied to create more multi-metal oxide anchoring Ag2O carbon matrix-based electrocatalysts that are extremely efficient, affordable, and perform significantly better in OER and other future applications.

Automated summary

In this study, metal oxide/carbon nanosheet arrays (MOx/C; M = Fe, Ag, Mn) were fabricated via hydrothermal route, using 2D metal-organic frameworks (2D-MOFs) as templates. The MOx/C arrays made from 2D MOFs showed significant electrocatalytic activity and durability. Among them, Ag2O/C exhibited the lowest overpotential and highest stability, making it a promising catalyst for OER and other applications.