Volume 20, Issue 26 2310112
Research Article

Novel Heterostructure-Based CoFe and Cobalt Oxysulfide Nanocubes for Effective Bifunctional Electrocatalytic Water and Urea Oxidation

Athibala Mariappan

Athibala Mariappan

School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, 38541 South Korea

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Pandian Mannu

Pandian Mannu

Department of Physics, Tamkang University, New Taipei City, 25137 Taiwan

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Kugalur Shanmugam Ranjith

Kugalur Shanmugam Ranjith

Department of Energy and Materials Engineering, Dongguk University-Seoul, Seoul, 100–715 Republic of Korea

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Ta Thi Thuy Nga

Ta Thi Thuy Nga

Department of Physics, Tamkang University, New Taipei City, 25137 Taiwan

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Young-Kyu Han

Young-Kyu Han

Department of Energy and Materials Engineering, Dongguk University-Seoul, Seoul, 100–715 Republic of Korea

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Chung-Li Dong

Corresponding Author

Chung-Li Dong

Department of Physics, Tamkang University, New Taipei City, 25137 Taiwan

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

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Ranjith Kumar Dharman

Corresponding Author

Ranjith Kumar Dharman

School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, 38541 South Korea

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

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Tae Hwan Oh

Corresponding Author

Tae Hwan Oh

School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, 38541 South Korea

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

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First published: 14 January 2024
Citations: 33

Abstract

The development of effective oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and urea oxidation reaction (UOR) on heterostructure electrocatalysts with specific interfaces and characteristics provides a distinctive character. In this study, heterostructure nanocubes (NCs) comprising inner cobalt oxysulfide (CoOS) NCs and outer CoFe (CF) layered double hydroxide (LDH) are developed using a hydrothermal methodology. During the sulfidation process, the divalent sulfur ions (S2−) are released from the breakdown of the sulfur source and react with the Co-precursors on the surface leading to the transformation of CoOH nanorods into CoOS nanocubes. Further, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) analyses reveal that the interactions at the interface of the CF@CoOS NCs significantly altered the electronic structure, thus enhancing the electrocatalytic performance. The optimal catalysts exhibited effective OER and UOR activities, the attained potentials are 1.51 and 1.36 V. This remarkable performance is attributable to the induction of electron transfer from the CoFe LDH to CoOS, which reduces the energy barrier of the intermediates for the OER and UOR. Furthermore, an alkaline water and urea two-cell electrolyzer assembled using CF@CoOS-2 NCs and Pt/C as the anode and cathode requires a cell voltage of 1.63 and 1.56 V along with a durability performance.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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