CeO2/FeS2 embedded in nitrogen doped carbon with mosaic structure: An effective catalyst for oxygen evolution reaction

Reasonably designed non-precious metal catalysts for efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are important for energy storage devices. Herein, a novel sol-gel method was proposed to obtain polyoxazine nanospheres, it was cleverly synthesized. Then, Ce3+and Fe3+modified the nanospheres by hydrothermal and high-temperature pyrolysis. CeO2/Fe3O4/NC was successfully prepared by solvothermal and high temperature pyrolysis, following, CeO2/Fe3O4/NC is modified with thioacetamide (TAA) to give CeO2/FeS2/NC (5:1). Therefore, CeO2/FeS2/NC (5:1) was obtained. The variability of valence states between the same metals is seen as a key factor in speeding up electron transport. In 1 M KOH, the optimal metal ratio CeO2/FeS2/NC (5:1) expresses a lower overpotential of 340 [email protected] mA cm−2 than that of RuO2 (η = 382 [email protected] mA cm−2). Moreover, interestingly, successful doping of sulfur element is considered a key means to modify the OER catalytic activity of CeO2/Fe3O4/NC. S is subsequently doped into the CeO2/Fe3O4/NC lattice to increase the M3+/M2+ molar ratio (M = Fe and Ce), promote reaction kinetics, and optimize the electronic structure.