DNA Origami-Templated Bimetallic Core-Shell Nanostructures for Enhanced Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Hydrogen generation through electrocatalytic watersplitting offers promising technology for sustainable and cleanenergy production as an alternative to conventional energy sources.The development of highly active electrocatalysts is of immenseinterest for improving the efficiency of gas evolution, which isstrongly hindered due to the sluggish kinetics of oxygen evolutionreaction (OER). Herein, we present the design of Ag-coated Aunanostar (core-shell-type Au@Ag nanostar) monomer structuresassembled on rectangular DNA origami and study their electro-catalytic activities through OER, which remains unexplored. Ourdesigned DNA origami-templated bimetallic nanostar catalystshowed excellent OER activity and high stability without usingany external binder and exhibited a current density of 10 mA cm-2at a low overpotential of 266 mV, which was smaller than those of ss-DNA-functionalized Au@Ag nanostars and DNA origami-templated pure Au nanostars. Our results reveal that DNA origami-assembled core-shell Au@Ag nanostars show betterelectrocatalytic performance as compared to pure-core Au nanostars immobilized on DNA origami, owing to the presence of a highlyconductive Ag layer. Such controlled assembly of bimetallic nanostructures on a DNA origami template can provide additionalelectrochemical surface area and a higher density of active sites resulting in enhanced electrocatalysis

Automated summary

Hydrogen generation through electrocatalytic watersplitting is a promising technology for sustainable and clean energy production. In this study, Ag-coated Au nanostars assembled on DNA origami were designed and their electrocatalytic activity in oxygen evolution reaction (OER) was explored. The results demonstrate that these bimetallic nanostar catalysts exhibit excellent OER activity and high stability, thanks to the highly conductive Ag layer.