Amorphous Co(OH)2 nanosheet electrocatalyst and the physical mechanism for its high activity and long-term cycle stability

<jats:p>Good conductivity is conventionally considered as a typical reference standard in terms of selecting water electrolysis catalysts. Cobalt hydroxide (Co(OH)2) has received extensive attention for its exceptional properties as a promising electrocatalysis catalyst. However, research on Co(OH)2 so far prefers to its crystal phase instead of amorphous phase because the former generally exhibits better conductivity. Here, we have demonstrated that the amorphous Co(OH)2 electrocatalyst synthesized via a simple, facile, green, and low-cost electrochemistry technique possesses high activity and long-term cycle stability in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The as-synthesized Co(OH)2 electrode was found to be a promising electrocatalyst for mediating OER in alkaline media, as evidenced by the overpotential of 0.38 V at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 and a Tafel slope of 68 mV dec−1. The amorphous Co(OH)2 also presented outstanding durability and its stability was just as well as that of crystalline Co(OH)2. Generally, the integrated electrochemical performances of the amorphous Co(OH)2 in the OER process were much superior to that of the crystalline Co(OH)2 materials. We also established that the short-range order, i.e., nanophase, of amorphous Co(OH)2 creates a lot of active sites for OER which can greatly promote the electrocatalysis performance of amorphous catalysts. These findings showed that the conventional understanding of selecting electrocatalysts with conductivity as a typical reference standard seems out of date for developing new catalysts at the nanometer, which actually open a door to applications of amorphous nanomaterials as an advanced electrocatalyst in the field of water oxidation.</jats:p>