Isolated p‐Block Antimony Atoms Activated CuO@Co‐CN Enable High Performances for Water Splitting and Zn‐Air Batteries

Abstract

This study reports an effective strategy for designing 3D electrocatalyst via the deposition of ZIF67‐derived Co–CN shell layer over CuO nanoarrays to form a CuO@Co–CN hybrid, followed by incorporation with p‐block Sb single atoms (CuO@Co–CN/Sb) to obtain highly activated catalytic behaviors. Inheriting both the excellent intrinsic catalytic activity of the components and their synergy, the CuO@Co–CN/Sb material serves as a high‐efficiency multifunctional catalyst for overall water splitting and zinc (Zn)–air batteries. The material yields a current density of 10 mA cm−2 at a low overpotential of 72 and 250 mV for the hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen evolution reaction, respectively. Furthermore, an electrolyzer based on CuO@Co–CN/Sb shows remarkable performance with a derived current density of 0.5 A cm−2 at low cell voltage of 2.67 V and good stability for 50 h continuous operation at a high current density of 0.5 A cm−2. Simultaneously, Zn–air battery using the CuO@Co–CN/Sb material as air cathode yields a high open circuit voltage of 1.455 V and a discharge power density of 131.07 mW cm−2.