Carbon Nanotubes with Cobalt Corroles for Hydrogen and Oxygen Evolution in pH 0–14 Solutions. Issue 46 (18th October 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Li, Xialiang; Lei, Haitao; Liu, Jieyu; Zhao, Xueli; Ding, Shuping; Zhang, Zongyao; Tao, Xixi; Zhang, Wei; Wang, Weichao; Zheng, Xiaohong; Cao, Rui
• Is Part Of: Angewandte Chemie international edition. Volume 57:Issue 46(2018)
• Page Start: 15070
• Page End: 15075
• Publication Date: 2018-10-18
• Subjects: carbon nanotubes -- cobalt corroles -- hydrogen evolution -- oxygen evolution -- water splitting; Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.201807996
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1433-7851

Abstract

Abstract: Water splitting is promising to realize a hydrogen‐based society. The practical use of molecular water‐splitting catalysts relies on their integration onto electrode materials. We describe herein the immobilization of cobalt corroles on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by four strategies and compare the performance of the resulting hybrids for H2 and O2 evolution. Co corroles can be covalently attached to CNTs with short conjugated linkers (the hybrid is denoted asH1 ) or with long alkane chains (H2 ), or can be grafted to CNTs via strong π–π interactions (H3 ) or via simple adsorption (H4 ). An activity trendH1 ≫H3 >H2 ≈H4 is obtained for H2 and O2 evolution, showing the critical role of electron transfer ability on electrocatalysis. Notably, H1 is the first Janus catalyst for both H2 and O2 evolution reactions in pH 0–14 aqueous solutions. Therefore, this work is significant to show potential uses of electrode materials with well‐designed molecular catalysts in electrocatalysis. Abstract : pH range rover : A hybrid material allowing fast electron transfer between cobalt corroles and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) catalyzes the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in pH 0–14 aqueous solutions with high efficiency and stability. This is the first example of bifunctional HER and OER catalysts that work in such wide pH range.