Mo‐Doped α‐MnO2 for Enhanced Electrocatalytic Water Oxidation

Abstract Manganese is a key metal involved in the catalysis of natural photosynthesis. Thus, the investigation of Mn‐based electrocatalysts for water oxidation is of high importance. This work reports the doping of Mo into α‐MnO 2 nanorods to improve the water oxidation performance. The doping of Mo can transform the microstructure of α‐MnO 2 from nanorods into nanosphere superstructures. As a dopant, Mo expands the α‐MnO 2 lattice to result in a decrease in the average oxidation state of Mn and the generation of oxygen vacancies, which are beneficial to water oxidation catalysis. Under optimized doping, the overpotential of 2.34 wt.% Mo/α‐MnO 2 is reduced by 80 mV (at 10 mA/cm 2 ) compared with pure α‐MnO 2 .