Spinel cobalt oxide(Co_(3)O_(4)),consisting of tetrahedral Co^(2+)(CoTd)and octahedral Co^(3+)(CoOh),is considered as promising earth-abundant electrocatalyst for chlorine evolution reaction(CER).Identifying the catal...Spinel cobalt oxide(Co_(3)O_(4)),consisting of tetrahedral Co^(2+)(CoTd)and octahedral Co^(3+)(CoOh),is considered as promising earth-abundant electrocatalyst for chlorine evolution reaction(CER).Identifying the catalytic contribution of geometric Co site in the electrocatalytic CER plays a pivotal role to precisely modulate electronic configuration of active Co sites to boost CER.Herein,combining density functional theory calculations and experiment results assisted with operando analysis,we found that the Co_(Oh) site acts as the main active site for CER in spinel Co_(3)O_(4),which shows better Cl^(-)adsorption and more moderate intermediate adsorption toward CER than CoTd site,and does not undergo redox transition under CER condition at applied potentials.Guided by above findings,the oxygen vacancies were further introduced into the Co_(3)O_(4) to precisely manipulate the electronic configuration of Co_(Oh) to boost Cl^(-)adsorption and optimize the reaction path of CER and thus to enhance the intrinsic CER activity significantly.Our work figures out the importance of geometric configuration dependent CER activity,shedding light on the rational design of advanced electrocatalysts from geometric configuration optimization at the atomic level.展开更多
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(U21A20286,22206054 and 21805069)Natural Science Foundation of Hubei(2021CFB094)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central China Normal University(CCNU)for financial support。
文摘Spinel cobalt oxide(Co_(3)O_(4)),consisting of tetrahedral Co^(2+)(CoTd)and octahedral Co^(3+)(CoOh),is considered as promising earth-abundant electrocatalyst for chlorine evolution reaction(CER).Identifying the catalytic contribution of geometric Co site in the electrocatalytic CER plays a pivotal role to precisely modulate electronic configuration of active Co sites to boost CER.Herein,combining density functional theory calculations and experiment results assisted with operando analysis,we found that the Co_(Oh) site acts as the main active site for CER in spinel Co_(3)O_(4),which shows better Cl^(-)adsorption and more moderate intermediate adsorption toward CER than CoTd site,and does not undergo redox transition under CER condition at applied potentials.Guided by above findings,the oxygen vacancies were further introduced into the Co_(3)O_(4) to precisely manipulate the electronic configuration of Co_(Oh) to boost Cl^(-)adsorption and optimize the reaction path of CER and thus to enhance the intrinsic CER activity significantly.Our work figures out the importance of geometric configuration dependent CER activity,shedding light on the rational design of advanced electrocatalysts from geometric configuration optimization at the atomic level.