Coordination-driven self-assembly of MOF-based heterostructures for electrocatalytic methanol oxidation

Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) are considered one of the most promising energy conversion devices due to their environmentally friendly and high-energy density features. However, the sluggish anode kinetics of the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) acts as a bottleneck in the DMFCs system. Herein, a series of MOF-based heterogeneous electrocatalysts (NiWO4/MOF-74-x, Ni3V2O8/MOF-74-x) is constructed via a coordination-driven self-assembly strategy to enhance the catalytic property of the MOR. The heterogeneous interface between MOF-74 and Ni compounds is built by the Ni–O coordination interaction, which provides fast charge transfer and mass diffusion efficiency. Therefore, the optimal catalyst NiWO4/MOF-74 (3) exhibits excellent MOR activity and operation durability with a peak current density of 28.58 ​mA·cm-2. This work is expected to inspire the design of more efficient MOF-based heterogeneous electrocatalysts for MOR and other energy conversion applications.