Improving the electrocatalytic performance of sustainable Co/carbon materials for the oxygen evolution reaction by ultrasound and microwave assisted synthesis

Abstract

The design of sustainable procedures for the preparation of Cobalt/Carbon-based materials as anode for hydrogen fuel production through the electrocatalytic water splitting has attracted much interest in the last years. Herein, a novel environmentally friendly approach for the development of stable and active catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is reported. In details, the methodology aimed at developing a sequence of composites having a low-cobalt loading (MW/US>MW>conventional heating, with the best sample requiring an overpotential of 365 mV to deliver the current density of 10 mA·cm-2 and a Tafel slope of 58 mV dec-1.