Facile synthesis of CuZrO3@PPY nanohybrid balls embedded 3-dimensional network with synergistic effect for efficient oxygen evolution reaction

Perovskite type CuZrO3 is an auspicious electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). On the other hand, CuZrO3 catalytic activity, is restricted due to its slow electrical conductivity. Therefore, in this study we synthesize CuZrO3 composite with conducting polypyrrole (PPY) such as CuZrO3@PPY hybrid via hydrothermal route. The resulting CuZrO3@PPY hybrid outperforms than the pristine CuZrO3 and PPY in terms of OER electrocatalytic activity. CuZrO3@PPY hybrid electrocatalysts showed better OER activities than those of CuZrO3 and PPY, correspondingly. The PPY layering on the exterior of CuZrO3 creates a conductive web for rapid electron transmission, and the connection among the PPY coat and CuZrO3 encourages electron transport from PPY to CuZrO3, which benefits the OER activity like low overpotential (226 mV) at specific current density of 10 mA/cm2 and Tafel slope (76 mV/dec). The findings proves that surface modification with a conducting polymer can improve perovskite oxide's electrocatalytic activity.