Heterojunction of Metal Plasmas and CoO Nanofilms for Ultraefficient Activity to Oxygen Evolution Electrocatalysts

Abstract

Hydrogen production by electrolysis of water is expected to be one of the important technologies for sustainable clean energy production, but the sluggish kinetics of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) hampers commercialization. The atomic layer deposition and high-energy metal plasma implantation were used to construct heterostructures of CoO with different thicknesses and multiple metals. Among them, the heterostructure constructed by cobalt oxide and Zr metal shows better oxygen evolution catalytic activity than other Ag, Ti, and Cr metals. With the increase of the number of Zr atoms and the thickness of the cobalt oxide layer, the OER activity first increased and then gradually decreased. The Zr500/12CoO metal− semiconductor heterojunction has a larger barrier height and more electron−hole pairs, which makes the metal surface more positively charged and promotes the adsorption of OH − . Construction of metal−semiconductor heterojunctions provides insights into the design and surface−interface modification of efficient, low-cost, and durable electrodes for water splitting applications.

Plasma Technology for Advanced Electrochemical Energy Storage

“…[39] Wang's research group used atomic layer deposition and high-energy metal ion implantation techniques to fabricate CoO heterostructures with different metal thicknesses. [40] The results showed that metal-semiconductor heterojunctions exhibited enhanced barrier heights and increased electron-hole pairs, leading to a higher positive charge density on the metal surface. This facilitated the adsorption of OH À ions and significantly improved the water splitting efficiency.…”

“…successfully fabricated 1T/2H MoS 2 heterostructures using nitrogen plasma technology at room temperature, demonstrating excellent electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) properties [39] . Wang's research group used atomic layer deposition and high‐energy metal ion implantation techniques to fabricate CoO heterostructures with different metal thicknesses [40] . The results showed that metal‐semiconductor heterojunctions exhibited enhanced barrier heights and increased electron‐hole pairs, leading to a higher positive charge density on the metal surface.…”

Enhanced Li+ and Mg2+ Diffusion at the Polymer–Ionic Liquid Interface within PVDF‐Based Ionogel Electrolytes for Batteries and Metal‐Ion Capacitors

“…[53,54] The better Li diffusion has already been observed in such hybrid electrolytes. [55] There is a gap in understanding of the diffusion property improvements brought about the confinement and the role of the solid-to-liquid interface in PVDF-based ionogels. [56,57] The present study aims to compare the ions dynamics in Li and Mg-doped ionic liquids and PVDFbased ionogel electrolytes to obtain information about the effect of salt addition and of confinement on the dynamics in salt-doped ILs.…”

Application of changing the valence state of metals through the reaction time for efficient oxygen evolution reaction

“…Hence, developing inexpensive, stable, and highly efficient catalysts for the OER is still extremely needed. Based on this, non-noble metals such as carbides, 9,10 phosphides, 11,12 nitrides, 13,14 oxides, 15,16 hydroxides, 17,18 and sulfides 19,20 have been extensively studied and applied in the OER.…”