Novel Co(3)O(4) Nanoparticles/Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Composites with Extraordinary Catalytic Activity for Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER)

Herein, Co(3)O(4) nanoparticles/nitrogen-doped carbon (Co(3)O(4)/NPC) composites with different structures were prepared via a facile method. Structure control was achieved by the rational morphology design of ZIF-67 precursors, which were then pyrolyzed in air to obtain Co(3)O(4)/NPC composites. When applied as catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), the M-Co(3)O(4)/NPC composites derived from the flower-like ZIF-67 showed superior catalytic activities than those derived from the rhombic dodecahedron and hollow spherical ZIF-67. The former M-Co(3)O(4)/NPC composite displayed a small over-potential of 0.3 V, low onset potential of 1.41 V, small Tafel slope of 83 mV dec(−1), and a desirable stability. (94.7% OER activity was retained after 10 h.) The excellent performance of the flower-like M-Co(3)O(4)/NPC composite in the OER was attributed to its favorable structure. [Image: see text] ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s40820-017-0170-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.