Polyaniline coating enables electronic structure engineering in Fe <sub>3</sub> O <sub>4</sub> to promote alkaline oxygen evolution reaction
Yang Zou, Yuan Huang, Liwen Jiang, Arindam Indra, Yongqing Wang, Hong Liu, Jianjun Wang
Abstract
Abstract The electronic structure of active sites is of importance for catalysts to achieve an optimized interaction with the intermediates. In this study, a unique organic–inorganic hybrid oxygen evolution reaction electrocatalyst composed of electrochemically inactive conducting polyaniline (PANI) and non-precious Fe-based oxide Fe 3 O 4 is presented. PANI molecules were in situ loaded on Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles through an efficient and simple process under mild conditions. The electronic structure of Fe 3 O 4 was modulated by creating a strong interaction with PANI molecules, leading to enhanced activity and stability of the catalyst to achieve 10 mA cm −2 geometrical current density at overpotential of 265 mV in 1 M aqueous KOH solution. This work demonstrates that a highly efficient electrocatalyst can be achieved by molecular modification and provides a novel strategy for the optimization of the inactive non-precious catalysts.