Mn-doped Co3B/NixB multimetallic boride derived from CoMn-ZIF/NF via one-step boronation for efficient oxygen evolution reaction

The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is the rate-determining step in water electrolysis; therefore, the development of efficient and stable non-noble metal OER catalysts is of great importance. In this study, a self-supporting multimetal boride (Co-Mn-Ni-B) was prepared by high-temperature boronation of CoMn-ZIF grown in situ on nickel foam with B 4 C, featuring Mn-doped Co 3 B nanosheets embedded in a nitrogen-doped carbon network and coupled with Ni 2 B/Ni 3 B. Owing to the synergistic effects of geometric configuration regulation and electronic structure optimization of Mn into the Co 3 B lattice, Co-Mn-Ni-B exhibited outstanding OER performance in 1 M KOH, achieving a current density of 100 mA cm −2 at an overpotential of only 239 mV and maintaining 91.3% of its initial activity after a 100 h stability test. This study provides a new design strategy for developing high-performance transition-metal boride using B 4 C as a solid boron source.