Tailoring oxygen vacancy on Co3O4 nanosheets with high surface area for oxygen evolution reaction

Electrochemical water splitting requires efficient water oxidation catalysts to accelerate the sluggish kinetics of water oxidation reaction. Here, we designed an efficient Co3O4 electrocatalyst using a pyrolysis strategy for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Morphological characterization confirmed the ultra-thin structure of nanosheet. Further, the existence of oxygen vacancies was obviously evidenced by the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electron spin resonance spectroscopy. The increased surface area of Co3O4 ensures more exposed sites, whereas generated oxygen vacancies on Co3O4 surface create more active defects. The two scenarios were beneficial for accelerating the OER across the interface between the anode and electrolyte. As expected, the optimized Co3O4 nanosheets can catalyze the OER efficiently with a low overpotential of 310 mV at current density of 10 mA/cm2 and remarkable long-term stability in 1.0 mol/L KOH.