Hollow waxberry-like cobalt–nickel oxide/S,N-codoped carbon nanospheres as a trifunctional electrocatalyst for OER,ORR, and HER

With the aggravation of the energy crisis, increasing attention has been paid to electrocatalytic technology for renewable energy devices. In particular, the research on catalysts towards the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) has become more urgent, and the development of multifunctional electrocatalysts has become a research trend. Here we report the synthesis of waxberry-like cobalt–nickel oxide/S,N-codoped carbon hollow nanocomposites as trifunctional catalysts. Uniform cobalt–nickel glycerate solid spheres are first synthesized as the precursor and subsequently chemically transformed into cobalt–nickel oxide/S,N-codoped carbon hollow nanospheres. Benefiting from the synergistic coupling of cobalt–nickel oxide and S,N-codoped carbon nanocomposites, hierarchical porosity and hollow structure, the cobalt–nickel oxide/S,N-codoped carbon nanohybrids exhibit superior trifunctional electrocatalytic activity and durability towards OER, ORR, and HER in alkaline media.

The catalyst is assembled from small nanoparticles in the shape of a bayberry, and exhibits superior trifunctional electrocatalytic activity.