The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a key reaction in the production of green hydrogen by water electrolysis. In alkaline media, the current state of the art catalysts used for the OER are based on non-noble metal oxides. However, despite their huge potential as OER catalysts, these materials exhibit various disadvantages including lack of stability and conductivity that hinder the wide-spread utilization of these materials in alkaline electrolyzer devices. This study highlights the innovative chemical functionalization of a mixed copper cobalt hydroxide with the V2CT x MXene to enhance the OER efficiency, addressing the need for effective electrocatalytic interfaces for sustainable hydrogen production. The herein synthesized CuCo@V2CT x electrocatalysts demonstrate remarkable activity, outperforming the pure CuCo catalysts for the OER and moreover show increased efficiency after 12 hours of continuous operation. This strategic integration improved the water oxidation performance of the pure oxide material by improving the composite's hydrophilicity, charge transfer properties and ability to hinder Cu leaching. The materials were characterized using an array of materials characterization techniques to help decipher both structure of the composite materials after synthesis and to elucidate the reasoning for the OER enhancement for the composites. This work demonstrates the significant potential of TMO-based nanomaterials combined with V2CT x for advanced innovative electrocatalytic interfaces in energy conversion applications.

Department of Inorganic Chemistry University of Chemistry and Technology Prague Technická 5 166 28 Prague 6 Czech Republic

Helmholtz Young Investigator Group Electrocatalysis Synthesis to Devices Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH Albert Einstein Str 15 12489 Berlin Germany

Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH Berlin 14109 Germany

Institut für Physik and IRIS Adlershof Humboldt Universität zu Berlin Berlin 12489 Germany

School of Chemistry CRANN and AMBER Research Centres Trinity College Dublin College Green Dublin D02 PN40 Ireland

Young Investigator Group Nanoscale Solid Liquid Interfaces Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH Albert Einstein Str 15 12489 Berlin Germany

See more in PubMed

Browne M. P. Sofer Z. Pumera M. Energy Environ. Sci. 2019;12:41–58. doi: 10.1039/C8EE02495B. DOI

Doyle R. L. Godwin I. J. Brandon M. P. Lyons M. E. G. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2013;15:13737–13783. doi: 10.1039/C3CP51213D. PubMed DOI

McAteer D. Godwin I. J. Ling Z. Harvey A. He L. Boland C. S. Vega-Mayoral V. Szydłowska B. Rovetta A. A. Backes C. Boland J. B. Chen X. Lyons M. E. G. Coleman J. N. Adv. Energy Mater. 2018;8:1702965. doi: 10.1002/aenm.201702965. DOI

Filimonenkov I. S. Bouillet C. Kéranguéven G. Simonov P. A. Tsirlina G. A. Savinova E. R. Electrochim. Acta. 2019;321:134657. doi: 10.1016/j.electacta.2019.134657. DOI

Grinberg P. Methven B. A. J. Swider K. Mester Z. ACS Omega. 2021;6:22717–22725. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.1c03013. PubMed DOI PMC

Görlin M. Ferreira de Araújo J. Schmies H. Bernsmeier D. Dresp S. Gliech M. Jusys Z. Chernev P. Kraehnert R. Dau H. Strasser P. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017;139:2070–2082. doi: 10.1021/jacs.6b12250. PubMed DOI

Oh H.-S. Nong H. N. Reier T. Bergmann A. Gliech M. Ferreira de Araújo J. Willinger E. Schlögl R. Teschner D. Strasser P. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016;138:12552–12563. doi: 10.1021/jacs.6b07199. PubMed DOI

Browne M. P. Tyndall D. Nicolosi V. Curr. Opin. Electrochem. 2022;34:101021. doi: 10.1016/j.coelec.2022.101021. DOI

Jun B.-M. Kim S. Heo J. Park C. M. Her N. Jang M. Huang Y. Han J. Yoon Y. Nano Res. 2019;12:471–487. doi: 10.1007/s12274-018-2225-3. DOI

Alhabeb M. Maleski K. Anasori B. Lelyukh P. Clark L. Sin S. Gogotsi Y. Chem. Mater. 2017;29:7633–7644. doi: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.7b02847. DOI

He J. Lyu P. Nachtigall P. J. Mater. Chem. C. 2016;4:11143–11149. doi: 10.1039/C6TC03917K. DOI

Li N. Fan J. Nanotechnology. 2021;32:252001. doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/abea37. PubMed DOI

Tyndall D. Gannon L. Hughes L. Carolan J. Pinilla S. Jaśkaniec S. Spurling D. Ronan O. McGuinness C. McEvoy N. Nicolosi V. Browne M. P. npj 2D Mater. Appl. 2023;7:15. doi: 10.1038/s41699-023-00377-1. PubMed DOI PMC

Benchakar M. Bilyk T. Garnero C. Loupias L. Morais C. Pacaud J. Canaff C. Chartier P. Morisset S. Guignard N. Mauchamp V. Célérier S. Habrioux A. Adv. Mater. Interfaces. 2019;6:1901328. doi: 10.1002/admi.201901328. DOI

Nazari M. Morsali A. J. Mater. Chem. A. 2024;12:4826–4834. doi: 10.1039/D4TA00131A. DOI

Gogoi D. Karmur R. S. Das M. R. Ghosh N. N. J. Mater. Chem. A. 2023;11:23867–23880. doi: 10.1039/D3TA05104H. DOI

Kaplan C. Restrepo R. M. Schultz T. Li K. Nicolosi V. Koch N. Browne M. P. Electrochim. Acta. 2024;490:144269. doi: 10.1016/j.electacta.2024.144269. DOI

Loupias L. Boulé R. Morais C. Mauchamp V. Guignard N. Rousseau J. Pacaud J. Chartier P. Gaudon M. Coutanceau C. Célérier S. Habrioux A. 2D Materials. 2023;10:024005. doi: 10.1088/2053-1583/acbfcb. DOI

Zhao X. Zheng X. Lu Q. Li Y. Xiao F. Tang B. Wang S. Yu D. Y. W. Rogach A. L. EcoMat. 2023;5:e12293. doi: 10.1002/eom2.12293. DOI

Wu X. Scott K. J. Mater. Chem. 2011;21:12344–12351. doi: 10.1039/C1JM11312G. DOI

Wang X. Yang M. Feng W. Qiao L. An X. Kong Q. Liu X. Wang Y. Liu Y. Li T. Xiang Z. Wang Q. Wu X. J. Electroanal. Chem. 2021;903:115823. doi: 10.1016/j.jelechem.2021.115823. DOI

Ghorbanzadeh S. Hosseini S. A. Alishahi M. J. Alloys Compd. 2022;920:165811. doi: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2022.165811. DOI

Kim K.-H. Choi Y.-H. Mater. Res. Express. 2022;9:034001. doi: 10.1088/2053-1591/ac5f89. DOI

Wu M. Wang B. Hu Q. Wang L. Zhou A. Materials. 2018;11:2112. doi: 10.3390/ma11112112. PubMed DOI PMC

Ying G. Kota S. Dillon A. D. Fafarman A. T. Barsoum M. W. FlatChem. 2018;8:25–30. doi: 10.1016/j.flatc.2018.03.001. DOI

Shan Q. Mu X. Alhabeb M. Shuck C. E. Pang D. Zhao X. Chu X.-F. Wei Y. Du F. Chen G. Gogotsi Y. Gao Y. Dall'Agnese Y. Electrochem. Commun. 2018;96:103–107. doi: 10.1016/j.elecom.2018.10.012. DOI

Fagerli F. H. Wang Z. Grande T. Kaland H. Selbach S. M. Wagner N. P. Wiik K. ACS Omega. 2022;7:23790–23799. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.2c02441. PubMed DOI PMC

Amargianou F. Bärmann P. Shao H. Taberna P.-L. Simon P. Gonzalez-Julian J. Weigand M. Petit T. Small Methods. 2004:2400190. PubMed PMC

Wang L. Liu D. Lian W. Hu Q. Liu X. Zhou A. J. Mater. Res. Technol. 2020;9:984–993. doi: 10.1016/j.jmrt.2019.11.038. DOI

Biesinger M. C. Lau L. W. M. Gerson A. R. Smart R. S. C. Appl. Surf. Sci. 2010;257:887–898. doi: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2010.07.086. DOI

Akir S. Azadmanjiri J. Antonatos N. Děkanovský L. Roy P. K. Mazánek V. Lontio Fomekong R. Regner J. Sofer Z. Nanoscale. 2023;15:12648–12659. doi: 10.1039/D3NR01144E. PubMed DOI

Lontio Fomekong R. Akir S. Oliveira F. M. Luxa J. Chacko L. Regner J. Dekanovsky L. Vejmelkova E. Sofer Z. J. Power Sources. 2024;602:234293. doi: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2024.234293. DOI

Biesinger M. C. Payne B. P. Grosvenor A. P. Lau L. W. M. Gerson A. R. Smart R. S. C. Appl. Surf. Sci. 2011;257:2717–2730. doi: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2010.10.051. DOI

Lee M. Ding X. Banerjee S. Krause F. Smirnov V. Astakhov O. Merdzhanova T. Klingebiel B. Kirchartz T. Finger F. Rau U. Haas S. Adv. Mater. Technol. 2020;5:2000592. doi: 10.1002/admt.202000592. DOI

Akir S. Lontio Fomekong R. Chacko L. Děkanovský L. Mazánek V. Sturala J. Koňáková D. Sofer Z. J. Energy Storage. 2024;85:110962. doi: 10.1016/j.est.2024.110962. DOI

Bilibana M. P. Adv. Sens. Energy Mater. 2023;2:100080. doi: 10.1016/j.asems.2023.100080. DOI

Thakur R. VahidMohammadi A. Moncada J. Adams W. R. Chi M. Tatarchuk B. Beidaghi M. Carrero C. A. Nanoscale. 2019;11:10716–10726. doi: 10.1039/C9NR03020D. PubMed DOI

Zhang Z. Ma X. Wang W. Gong X. Zhao Y. Mu Q. Xue Z. Liu X. Zheng H. Xu W. J. Mater. Sci. 2022;57:13179–13201. doi: 10.1007/s10853-022-07492-2. DOI