Hollow V-Doped CoMx (M = P, S, O) Nanoboxes as Efficient OER Electrocatalysts for Overall Water Splitting

Hollow nanostructures with intricate interior and catalytic effects have been the focus of researchers in energy conversion and storage. Although tremendous efforts have been made, the fabrication of well-defined hollow nanostructures has been rarely reported due to the limitations of the synthetic methods. Herein, we have proposed a general synthetic strategy for the construction of V-doped CoMx (M = P, S, O) nanoboxes (NBs), where the doped V effectively modifies the electronic structure of CoMx to provide a favorable surface electrochemical environment for the adsorption of reaction intermediates (*O, *OH, and *OOH), leading to a significant enhancement in electrocatalytic performance. More importantly, the hollow nanostructures can expose abundant surface active areas and promote the chemical adsorption of reactants and intermediates, greatly contributing to the promotion of electrocatalytic performance. Impressively, the optimal V-doped CoS2 NBs show excellent electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance with an overpotential of only 290 mV at 10 mA cm–2, along with outstanding overall water-splitting performance. This work supplies pivotal insights for constructing high-performance OER catalysts on the basis of electronic and geometric engineering.