Synergistic engineering of CoFe-thiophene based metal-organic framework with in-situ decoration of g-C3N4 for enhanced electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction

Designing economical and highly effective catalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) remains essential to addressing the world's energy challenges and mitigating environmental degradation. To overcome the substantial kinetic barriers inherent to the four-electron OER, the development of innovative electrocatalysts is crucial for accelerating OER kinetics and ultimately boosting the efficacy of water splitting processes, thereby facilitating the sustainable production of green hydrogen. In this study, we have successfully synthesized cobalt iron-thiophene-2,5-dicarboxylate metal-organic framework/graphitic carbon nitride (CoFe-TDC-MOF/g-C 3 N 4 ) composites via a solvothermal method to boost OER performance. Notably, the incorporation of g-C 3 N 4 into CoFe-TDC-MOF significantly improved the material's morphology and electrochemical properties . The optimized CoFe-TDC-MOF/g-C 3 N 4 catalyst exhibits exceptional OER performance, characterized by a remarkably lower Tafel slope of 31.6 mV dec −1 and overpotentials 150, 200 and 369 mV, attained at 10, 100 and 500 mA cm −2 current densities , respectively. Furthermore, the electrocatalyst demonstrated exceptional stability over an extended period (150 h and 94 h) at 100 and 500 mA cm −2 current densities. It was found that g-C 3 N 4 is crucial for improving the electrochemical performance of the catalyst. The findings demonstrate that the integration of g-C 3 N 4 is a viable approach to realizing highly effective and durable OER electrocatalysts . • The CoFe-TDC-MOF/g-C 3 N 4 composites were synthesized by a facile solvothermal method. • The composites displayed nanosheet array structure vertically grown on nickel foam. • The composites showed excellent electrocatalytic activity for OER in alkaline media. • The catalysts showed exceptional durability at a high current density. • g-C 3 N 4 plays a key role in enhancing the electrocatalyst's performance.