Electrodeposited Amorphous Tungsten-doped Cobalt Oxide as an Efficient Catalyst for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

ABSTRACT

Thin film of amorphous tungsten-doped cobalt oxide (WCoO) was successfully grown on a conducting electrode via an electrochemical oxidation process employing a [Co(WS4 )2 ]2- deposition bath. The WCoO catalyst displays an attractive performance for the oxygen evolution reaction in an alkaline solution. In an NaOH solution of pH 13, WCoO operates with a moderate onset overpotential of 230 mV and requires 320 mV overpotential to generate a catalytic current density of 10 mA cm-2 . A low Tafel slope of 45 mV decade-1 was determined, indicating a rapid O2 -evolving kinetics. The as-prepared WCoO belongs to the best cobalt oxide-based catalysts ever reported for the oxygen evolution (OER) reaction.