Electrochemical Oxygen Evolution Reaction Catalyzed By Cobalt Oxide (Co3o4) Nanodisks

In this work, multidimensional Co3O4 nanodisks were synthesized through a simple solution method and characterized through various techniques for their morphological, structural, compositional and crystalline properties. The electro-catalytical oxygen evolution characteristics of the Co3O4 nanodisks were analyzed from the water-splitting process. The Co3O4 nanodisks exhibited high oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity with a low Tafel slope of 115.3 mV dec(-1). The onset potential was measured to be 300 mV, while the overpotential to generate 10 mA cm(-2) current density was determined to be 345 mV. Double-layer capacitance calculated from cyclic voltammograms recorded in the range 1.00-1.12 V-RHE was estimated to be 4.1 mF cm(-2) and was twice the value of the electrochemically active surface area. The excellent OER features of the Co3O4 nanodisks were attributed to the highly perforated nanodisks morphology which provided a large specific surface area for the electro-catalytic decomposition of water to release O-2 gas.