Ultrathin fan-like multimetallic oxide as a superior oxygen evolution electrocatalyst in alkaline water and seawater

Multimetallic systems exhibit high catalytic activity because of the flexibility to change the electronic and crystal structures of the materials. On the other hand, the preparation of homogeneous catalysts and the revelation of synergistic interactions in the catalytic process limit the further development of multimetallic catalysts due to the increase in chemical complexity. Here, atomically thin quinary CNWFVOx (CoNiWFeVOx) fan-like nanobelts are successfully synthesized as an OER electrocatalyst by a simple colloidal chemistry strategy. Compared with the ternary and quaternary systems, the quinary CNWFVOx shows more excellent catalytic performance, requiring only low overpotentials of 245 mV and 272 mV to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm−2 under alkaline conditions and simulated seawater, respectively, and a small Tafel slope of 47.17 mV dec−1 under alkaline conditions. Moreover, the electrode activity remained almost constant after more than 83 h of stability testing. The OER activity of the catalyst was significantly enhanced and the kinetics were accelerated thanks to the synergistic effect of the multi-metals and the amorphous ultra-thin structure. This work may provide opportunities for the design and study of atomically thin multinary transition metal oxide nanomaterials.