Zn and Co Loaded Porous C Decorated Electrospun Nanofibers as Efficient Oxygen Evolution Reaction for Water Splitting

Developing a clean and efficient noble metal free
electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is urgently
needed to accelerate water splitting green energy conversion
systems. Herein, we reported the fabrication of a noble metal-free
electrocatalyst based on Zn and Co loaded porous C decorated
cellulose acetate-polyaniline (ZnCo-C/CA-PANI) electrospun
nanofibers at the surface of nickel foam (NF). The smooth
coating of CA-PANI electrospun nanofibers at the surface of NF
helps in exposing the maximum fraction of ZnCo-C based
electrocatalyst and uniform flow of ions at the entire surface,
thus resulting in high OH− adsorption capability. The designed
ZnCo-C/CA-PANI@NF electrode acts as an efficient electrocatalyst
for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in an alkaline
medium and offers a lower onset potential (1.34 V vs RHE), a small Tafel slope of 42 mV/dec, and high stability. These results
suggest a concept of exploring more such noble metal free hybrid materials that could induce the efficient electrocatalytic water
splitting for sustainable energy conversion