Heat treatment-induced Co3+ enrichment in CoFePBA to enhance OER electrocatalytic performance

Increasing active metal sites is a valid approach to improve the catalytic activity of the catalyst. Co3+ is the main active metal site of Co-based catalysts. In this research work, through the partial transformation of CoFePBA (CFP) via low-temperature heat treatment, the effective control of the Co3+/Co2+ ratio has been achieved. The partial transformation strategy of low-temperature heat treatment can not only maintain the original framework structure of CFP, but also increase more active sites. The characterization results show that the CFP-200 sample obtained via heat treatment at 200 °C for 2 h under N2 atmosphere has the highest Co3+/Co2+ ratio. As an oxygen evolution reaction electrocatalyst, CFP-200 shows the best electrocatalytic activity among all samples. In 1.0 mol/L KOH electrolyte, the overpotential is 312 mV at a current density of 10 mA/cm2. Therefore, low-temperature heat treatment provides an effective method for preparing low-cost and high-efficiency electrocatalysts.