Polyoxometalate-assisted synthesis of amorphous zeolitic imidazolate for efficient electrocatalytic oxygen evolution

The development of earth-abundant element-based highly active and efficient catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is crucial for sustainable energy conversion technologies. In this work, we successfully used the Ni-modified Keggin-type polyoxometalate ([PNi(H2O)W11O39]5-) as a precursor to chemically modify the zeolitic imidazolate framework ZIF 67 via a facile one-pot method. The resulting composite catalyst shows promising electrocatalytic OER performance in a 1 M aqueous KOH solution with high faradaic efficiency. Higher reactivity is observed compared with several reference composites. This synthetic approach could provide access to designing a new class of highly reactive catalysts for targeted reactions.

Automated summary

The development of highly active and efficient catalysts based on earth-abundant elements is crucial for sustainable energy conversion technologies. This study successfully used a modified Keggin-type polyoxometalate as a precursor to chemically modify a zeolitic imidazolate framework, resulting in a composite catalyst with promising electrocatalytic performance in the oxygen evolution reaction. The synthetic approach used in this study could lead to the design of new highly reactive catalysts for targeted reactions.