From a layered iridium(iii)-cobalt(ii) organophosphonate to an efficient oxygen-evolution-reaction electrocatalyst.

ABSTRACT

Bimetallic MOF precursors can produce a homogeneous distribution of mixed-metal oxides after calcination, and thus may provide high efficiency as electrocatalysts in the water splitting process. We designed a layered bimetallic-organophosphonate containing Ir, Co and P because the metal-oxides are well-known for their efficiency in the oxygen-evolution reaction (OER), especially when the phosphate acts as a proton carrier. We describe the structure of the MOF and characteristics of the calcined form, which has outstanding OER characteristics in 1.0 M KOH with an overpotential of 317.7 mV at 10 mA cm-2 and a low Tafel slope of 59.1 mV dec-1.