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  • Rapid Synthesis of Cobalt N...
    Zhang, Yongqi; Ouyang, Bo; Xu, Jing; Jia, Guichong; Chen, Shi; Rawat, Rajdeep Singh; Fan, Hong Jin

    Angewandte Chemie (International ed.), July 18, 2016, Volume: 55, Issue: 30
    Journal Article

    Electrochemical splitting of water to produce hydrogen and oxygen is an important process for many energy storage and conversion devices. Developing efficient, durable, low‐cost, and earth‐abundant electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is of great urgency. To achieve the rapid synthesis of transition‐metal nitride nanostructures and improve their electrocatalytic performance, a new strategy has been developed to convert cobalt oxide precursors into cobalt nitride nanowires through N2 radio frequency plasma treatment. This method requires significantly shorter reaction times (about 1 min) at room temperature compared to conventional high‐temperature NH3 annealing which requires a few hours. The plasma treatment significantly enhances the OER activity, as evidenced by a low overpotential of 290 mV to reach a current density of 10 mA cm−2, a small Tafel slope, and long‐term durability in an alkaline electrolyte. Down to the wire: CoN nanowire arrays were synthesized by means of a fast and efficient N2 plasma method that is both safe and environmentally friendly. Owing to better conductivity and a large surface area, the obtained CoN nanowire arrays on nickel foam exhibit outstanding performance in the oxygen evolution reaction.