Bimetallic-MOF-Derived Amorphous Zinc/Cobalt-Iron-Based Hollow Nanowall Arrays via Ion Exchange for Highly Efficient Oxygen Evolution

Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is critical for optimizing renewable energy systems, including metal-air batteries and water electrolysis. One major challenge for OER is to develop durable and cost-effective electrocatalysts with high catalytic performance. Herein, a controllable ion-exchange method to synthesize amorphous zinc/cobalt-iron hydroxide-based hollow nanowall arrays (A-Zn/Co-Fe HNAs) derived from bimetallic metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) on carbon cloth is reported. The amorphous characteristic enables the presented materials with more electrocatalytic sites and short diffusion paths for rapid access to the electrolyte, achieving efficient charge transfer for OER. The optimized nanostructure of A-Zn/Co-Fe HNAs via tuning the amount of iron sulfate in the reaction solution delivers a low overpotential of 226 mV to reach a current density of 10 mA cm(-2) with a small Tafel slope of 37.81 mV dec(-1) while exhibiting high durability at varied current densities over 80 h. The remarkable electrochemical performance can be attributed to the synergistic effect from chemical elements of Zn, Co-Fe, and a robust hollow structure. This simple method of fabricating bimetallic-MOF-derived amorphous Zn/Co-Fe HNAs on carbon cloth can be applied as a practical platform for other OER electrocatalysts.

Automated summary

By utilizing a controllable ion-exchange method, amorphous zinc/cobalt-iron hydroxide-based hollow nanowall arrays derived from bimetallic metal-organic frameworks on carbon cloth were successfully synthesized, providing more electrocatalytic sites and shorter diffusion paths for efficient charge transfer in OER. Optimizing the nanostructure by adjusting the amount of iron sulfate in the reaction solution resulted in a low overpotential and small Tafel slope, while maintaining high durability over 80 hours at varied current densities.