Field-Free Improvement of Oxygen Evolution Reaction in Magnetic Two-Dimensional Heterostructures
Ziren Xiong, Ce Hu, Xingfang Luo, Wenda Zhou, Zhenzhen Jiang, Yong Yang, Ting Yu, Wen Lei, Cailei Yuan
Abstract
Ferromagnetic (FM) electrocatalysts have been demonstrated to reduce the kinetic barrier of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) by spin-dependent kinetics and thus enhance the efficiency fundamentally. Accordingly, FM two-dimensional (2D) materials with unique physicochemical properties are expected to be promising oxygen-evolution catalysts; however, related research is yet to be reported due to their air-instabilities and low Curie temperatures (TC). Here, based on the synthesis of 2D air-stable FM Cr2Te3 nanosheets with a low TC around 200 K, room-temperature ferromagnetism is achieved in Cr2Te3 by proximity to an antiferromagnetic (AFM) CrOOH, demonstrating the accomplishment of long-ranged FM ordering in Cr2Te3 because the magnetic proximity effect stems from paramagnetic (PM)/AFM heterostructure. Therefore, the OER performance can be permanently promoted (without applied magnetic field due to nonvolatile nature of spin) after magnetization. This work demonstrates that a representative PM/AFM 2D heterostructure, Cr2Te3/CrOOH, is expected to be a high-efficient magnetic heterostructure catalysts for oxygen-evolution.