Facile Synthesis of Copper Oxide-Cobalt Oxide/Nitrogen-Doped Carbon (Cu₂O-Co₃O₄/CN) Composite for Efficient Water Splitting

Abstract

Herein, we report a copper oxide-cobalt oxide/nitrogen-doped carbon hybrid (Cu2O-Co3O4/CN) composite for electrochemical water splitting. Cu2O-Co3O4/CN is synthesized by an easy two-step reaction of melamine with Cu2O-Co3O4/CN composite. The designed composite is aimed to solve energy challenges by producing hydrogen and oxygen via electrochemical catalysis. The proposed composite offers some unique advantages in water splitting. Carbon imparts superior conductivity, while the water oxidation abilities of Cu2O and Co3O4 are considered to constitute a catalyst. The synthesized composite (Cu2O-Co3O4/CN) is characterized by SEM, EDS, FTIR, TEM, and AFM in terms of the size, morphology, shape, and elemental composition of the catalyst. The designed catalyst’s electrochemical performance is evaluated via linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The Cu2O-Co3O4/CN composite shows significant electrocatalytic activity, which is further improved by introducing nitrogen doped carbon (current density 10 mA cm−2, onset potential 91 mV, and overpotential 396 mV).

Keywords

• water splitting
• hydrogen evolution reaction
• oxygen evolution reaction
• electrocatalyst
• Cu₂O-Co₃O₄/CN composite