Ultrafast nanomanufacturing via high-temperature shock of La0.6Sr0.4CoO3 catalysts for overall water splitting

Electrochemical water splitting, as an effective sustainable and eco-friendly energy conversion strategy, can produce high-purity hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2) via hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER), respectively, altering the nonrenewable fossil fuels. Here, La0.6Sr0.4CoO3 perovskite oxide nanoparticles with an orthorhombic phase were synthesized within 2 minutes in a one-step reaction, using a rapid and efficient high-temperature shock (HTS) method. Impressively, the as-prepared La0.6Sr0.4CoO3 with orthorhombic phase (HTS-2) exhibited better OER and HER performance than the hexagonal phase counterpart prepared using the traditional muffle furnace calcination method. The electrocatalytic performance enhancement of orthorhombic La0.6Sr0.4CoO3 can be attributed to the novel orthorhombic structure, such as confined strontium segregation, a higher percentage of highly oxidative oxygen species, and more active sites on the surface. This facile and rapid synthesis technique shows great potential for the rational design and crystal phase engineering of nanocatalysts.