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Research Article

Atomic-level correlation between the electrochemical performance of an oxygen-evolving catalyst and the effects of CeO2 functionalization

Yanyan Li1,2,3,§, Wen Luo4,§, Duojie Wu5, Qi Wang4, Jie Yin6, Pinxian Xi6, Yongquan Qu7, Meng Gu5, Xinyu Zhang2,3(), Zhouguang Lu4(), Zhiping Zheng2,3()
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
Department of Chemistry, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Energy Materials for Electric Power, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
Key Laboratory of Energy Conversion and Storage Technologies (Southern University of Science and Technology), Ministry of Education, Shenzhen 518055, China
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Interfacial Science and Engineering of Materials, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Energy Materials for Electric Power, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metal Chemistry and Resources Utilization of Gansu Province, State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry and College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Research Centre of Biomedical Nanotechnology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Center for Applied Chemical Research, Frontier Institute of Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China

§ Yanyan Li and Wen Luo contributed equally to this work.

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Graphical Abstract

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A CeO2 functionalized bimetallic layered double hydroxide (LDH) (CeO2-FeCo LDH) was prepared and showed much enhanced performance over its unmodified parent FeCo LDH and even commercial RuO2 for catalytic oxygen evolution reaction. Mechanistic studies using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy revealed location-specific increase of catalysis-responsible Co3+ due to the heterostructure formation between CeO2 and FeCo LDH; an atomic-level understanding of the positive effects of CeO2 functionalization is thus established.

Abstract

Herein, we prepared a bimetallic layered double hydroxide (FeCo LDH) featuring a dandelion-like structure. Anchoring of CeO2 onto FeCo LDH produced interfaces between the functionalizing CeO2 and the parent LDH. Comparative electrochemical studies were carried out. Onset potential, overpotential, and Tafel slope point to the superior oxygen-evolving performance of CeO2-FeCo LDH with respect to FeCo LDH, therefore, demonstrating the merits of CeO2 functionalization. The electronic structures of Fe, Co, and Ce were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) from which the increase of Co3+ and the concurrent lowering of Ce4+ were established. With the use of CeO2-FeCo LDH, accelerated formation at a sizably reduced potential of Co-OOH, one of the key intermediates preceding the release of O2was observed by in situ Raman spectroscopy. We now have the atomic-level and location-specific evidence, the increase of the active Co3+ across the interface to correlate the enhanced catalytic performance with CeO2 functionalization.

Keywords

CeO2 nanoparticles metal layered double hydroxides (LDHs)oxygen evolution reactionintermediate conversion

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Nano Research
Volume 15 Issue 4,
April 2022
Pages 2994-3000
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-021-3931-9
Cite this article:
Li Y, Luo W, Wu D, et al. Atomic-level correlation between the electrochemical performance of an oxygen-evolving catalyst and the effects of CeO2 functionalization. Nano Research, 2022, 15(4): 2994-3000. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-021-3931-9
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