Heterogeneous Molten Salt Design Strategy toward Coupling Cobalt-Cobalt Oxide and Carbon for Efficient Energy Conversion and Storage

Strong coupling between non-noble metal and carbon materials that enables fast electrochemical reaction kinetics is highly desired in many energy-related applications. Herein, a volatile organic salt-induced heterogeneous molten salt method is proposed to couple embedded cobalt oxide nanocrystals and encapsulated cobalt nanoparticles on a 2D graphitic carbon matrix, featuring enhanced charge transport and increased exposed active sites. Originating from its unique structure, this hybrid delivers excellent electrocatalytic and electrochemical activity with impressive stability. This work represents a new synthetic strategy to create bridged bonds in 2D-encapsulated nanostructures for various energy applications.