Self‐optimizing Cobalt Tungsten Oxide Electrocatalysts toward Enhanced Oxygen Evolution in Alkaline Media
Self-optimizing mixed metal oxides represent a novel class of electrocatalysts for the advanced oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Here, we report self-assembled cobalt tungsten oxide nanostructures on a lab-synthesized copper oxide substrate through a single-step deposition approach. The resulting composite exhibits remarkable self-optimization behavior, shown by significantly reduced overpotentials and enhanced current densities, accompanied with substantial increase in OER kinetics, electrocatalytically active surface area, surface wettability, and electrical conductivity. Under operating conditions, interfacial restructuring of the electrocatalyst reveals the in situ formation of oxidized cobalt species as the true active site. Complementary density functional theory (DFT) calculations further demonstrate the formation of *OOH intermediate as the rate-determining step of OER, and highlight the adaptive binding of oxygen intermediates, which transitions from tungsten to cobalt site during OER process. Our study provides a fundamental understanding of the self-optimization mechanism and advances the knowledge-driven design of efficient water-splitting electrocatalysts.
Authors
- Zsolt Dallos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9108-4366)
- Dhouha Abid (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5967-5876)
- Kevin Sowa
- David Leander Troglauer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-4601-7576)
- Deping Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2116-5184)
- Magdalena Ola Cichocka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4133-5128)
- Lijie Ci (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1759-105X)
- Leon Prädel
- Minghao Hua (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0914-5674)
- Ute Kolb (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0559-2482)
- Xiaohang Lin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4017-9856)
- Boris Mashtakov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6967-3746)
- Christean Nickel
- Dandan Gao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2035-8769)
- Rongji Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1520-2978)
- S.H. Han
- Bahareh Feizimohazzab
Institutions
- Shandong University (CN)
- Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (DE)
- Harbin Institute of Technology (CN)
- Technische Universität Darmstadt (DE)
- University of Jinan (CN)
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (DE)
- Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia (MY)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Angewandte Chemie International Edition
- Published
- 2025-02-05
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202424074
- Citations
- 15
- Primary Topic
- Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 5.45
Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz