CoO/NF nanowires promote hydrogen and oxygen production for overall water splitting in alkaline media

The exploration of catalysts with high activity and low cost for water splitting is still necessary. Herein, a nanowire-like morphology CoO/NF electrode is synthesized using facile hydrothermal reaction and calcination treatment. The urea can regulate its morphology during the synthetic process of CoO/NF. Electrochemical studies reveal that the as-obtained CoO/NF exhibits excellent electrocatalytic performance with overpotential of 307 mV at current density of 10 mA cm −2 and Tafel slope of 72 mV dec −1 for oxygen evolution reaction , and CoO/NF delivers current density of 10 mA cm −2 at overpotential of 224 mV for hydrogen evolution reaction . The results of the oxygen evolution reaction stability show that the overpotential of CoO/NF electrode is only increased by 4 mV at current density of 10 mA cm −2 . The two-electrode water splitting with CoO/NF electrodes as both anode and cathode needs a cell potential of 1.76 V to reach 10 mA cm −2 . Therefore, this simple method to prepare CoO/NF electrode can enhance the properties of electrocatalysts , which makes CoO/NF a promising material to replace noble metal-based catalysts.