An Efficient Turing-Type Ag2Se-CoSe2 Multi-Interfacial Oxygen-Evolving Electrocatalyst**

Although the Turing structures, or stationary reaction-diffusion patterns, have received increasing attention in biology and chemistry, making such unusual patterns on inorganic solids is fundamentally challenging. We report a simple cation exchange approach to produce Turing-type Ag2Se on CoSe2 nanobelts relied on diffusion-driven instability. The resultant Turing-type Ag2Se-CoSe2 material is highly effective to catalyze the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline electrolytes with an 84.5 % anodic energy efficiency. Electrochemical measurements show that the intrinsic OER activity correlates linearly with the length of Ag2Se-CoSe2 interfaces, determining that such Turing-type interfaces are more active sites for OER. Combing X-ray absorption and computational simulations, we ascribe the excellent OER performance to the optimized adsorption energies for critical oxygen-containing intermediates at the unconventional interfaces.

Automated summary

A simple cation exchange approach was used to produce Turing-type Ag2Se on CoSe2 nanobelts, resulting in a material highly effective in catalyzing the oxygen evolution reaction. The intrinsic OER activity correlates linearly with the length of Ag2Se-CoSe2 interfaces, indicating that these Turing-type interfaces are the active sites for OER. The excellent OER performance is attributed to the optimized adsorption energies for critical oxygen-containing intermediates at the unconventional interfaces, as shown by X-ray absorption and computational simulations.