Authors: Na Luo, Ao Cai, Junhui Pei, Xiongfeng Zeng, Xing Wang, Na Yao
Published: 2025-01-09
Source: Full article
AbstractOxygen vacancy (VO) engineering is widely regarded as a key strategy for enhancing CoMo‐based catalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) while understanding their formation mechanisms and role in boosting OER activity remains a significant challenge. Herein, a CoMoOx system doped is developed with different 3d‐orbital atoms M (V, Ni, Zn, and Mn) to investigate the construction and stabilization of VO and its crucial role in OER performance. In situ and ex situ measurements along with theoretical calculations demonstrate that V doping adjusts the bandgap between the CoMo‐d and O‐p orbitals, leading to the transfer of electrons from the O‐p orbitals to the M‐d orbitals, thereby promoting the formation of VO. The formation of VO leads to an upshifted d‐band center, optimizing the desorption of oxygen intermediates on VO‐CoMoVOx and lowering the energy barrier of the rate‐determining step (RDS), thereby enhancing the catalyst's activity. Additionally, V doping promotes electron transfer from Co to V atoms, stabilizing the VO and ultimately improving the catalyst's stability. The resulting VO ‐CoMoVOx catalyst delivered attractive activity (overpotential of 248 mV at 10 mA cm−2) and durability over 600 h. This study offers a rational method for designing efficient OER electrocatalysts.