Green Synthesis of Manganese-Cobalt Oxyhydroxide Nanocomposite as Electrocatalyst for Enhanced Oxygen Evolution Reaction in Alkaline Medium

Abstract

Using green synthetic methods, a manganese-cobalt oxyhydroxide (MnCo-OOH) nanocomposite for electrocatalysis was prepared. Electrocatalysts were examined using powder X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). In an alkaline medium, cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometric analysis were applied to assess the electrocatalytic features of the MnCo-OOH nanocomposite. A strong correlation existed between MnCo-OOH’s morphology, crystallinity, and electrochemical activity. Upon examining the electrochemical characteristics, the as-deposited MnCo-OOH catalyst demonstrated a significantly lower overpotential, achieving 75 mA·cm−2 OER current density at 370 mV, four times larger than 19.7 mA·cm−2 for CoOOH catalysts, signifying that the MnCo-OOH catalyst exhibits a higher electrocatalytic OER features. In addition, the MnCo-OOH nanocomposite demonstrated a high current density of 30 and 65 mA·cm−2 at 1.55 and 1.60 VRHE for 12 h in 1.0 M KOH aqueous electrolyte. As a result of this study, it was determined that the fabricated MnCo-OOH nanocomposite would be an appropriate electrocatalyst in water electrolysis.