Electronic and Structural Modification of Mn3O4 Nanosheets for Selective and Sustained Seawater Oxidation

The accomplishment of seawater electrolysis to produce green hydrogen energy needs an efficient and durable electrocatalyst with high selectivity and corrosion resistance. Here we report a free-standing amorphous nanostructured oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalyst with microvoids developed by embedding Gd-doped Mn3O4 nanosheets in a CuO-Cu(OH)2 nanostructure array (Gd-Mn3O4@ CuO-Cu(OH)2. The surface oxygen vacancies modulated the electronic structure of the catalyst and offered active sites with optimal chemisorption energy to OER intermediates. The hierarchical surface structure provides a large specific surface area, high electrical conductivity, ionic mobility, intrinsic activity for each active site, and efficient charge transfer, leading to an outstanding catalytic performance. The enhanced structural, chemical, and corrosion resistance ensures effectiveness as an anode in direct seawater electrolysis. Specifically, it needs an input voltage of 1.63 V to deliver a current density of 500 mA cm–2 in alkaline seawater, with the stability of more than 75 h of continuous electrolysis without hypochlorite formation. The high Faradaic efficiency demonstrates its potential for hydrogen fuel production from seawater.