Bimetallic metal-organic framework nanosheets as efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) benefitting from its controllable and diverse structure are a class of promising materials for diverse field. However, its directly employed for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is still rare. Particularly, two-dimensional (2D) MOF nanosheets materials possess both advantages of 2D layered nanomaterials and MOFs, are considered as promising nanomaterials. Herein, we report a facile and scalable in situ hydrothermal synthesis of a 2D Co-based bimetallic MOFs (Co-Fe/[email protected] nanosheets), which can be stable in alkaline solution and directly adopted as highly efficient electrocatalysts. The [email protected] can reach a current density of 10 mA cm−2 at low overpotential of 320 mV with a small Tafel slope of 58 mV dec−1, which is comparable to that of commercial RuO2 (58 mV dec−1). The excellent electrocatalytic properties can be attributed to the 2D nanosheet and the coupling effect between Co and Ni, which provided large number of accessible active sites. The results highlight the great potential of utilizing MOF nanosheets for electrocatalysis, and will pave a way to develop more efficient 2D MOFs for diverse catalytic applications.