Copper Oxide Film In-situ Electrodeposited from Cu(II) Complex as Highly Efficient Catalyst for Water Oxidation

Water splitting is deemed as an effective pathway for producing ideal clean energy, such as hydrogen. Here, a copper oxide film (Cu-Tris film) was prepared in-situ from a 0.2 M phosphate buffer solution (pH = 12.0) containing 1.0 mM Cu2+ and 2.0 mM Tris via controlled-potential electrodeposition. The Cu-Tris film showed a significantly low overpotential of 390 mV at a current density of 1.0 mA/cm2 for electrocatalytic water oxidation. Simultaneously, a considerably low Tafel slope of 41 mV/decade was achieved. This Cu-Tris film also exhibited a high and stable current density of ca. 7.5 mA/cm2 at 1.15 V vs. NHE for long-term electrocatalysis (10 h). These results demonstrated the superior performance of the developed Cu-Tris film, which should be attributed to the regulating effect of the five coordinated planar structure of the Cu-Tris complex precursor during the process of electrodeposition.