Hollow CuCo-based trimetallic oxides derived from ZIF-67 as enhanced electrocatalysts for OER

Multimetallic oxide configuration and hollow structure construction are effective strategies for the design of efficient electrocatalysts , which can regulate the intrinsic properties of the active sites, enlarge the specific surface areas and expose more active sites. In this work, hollow-structured CuCo-based ternary metal oxides supported nitrogen-carbon networks (HS-CuMCoO x , M = Fe/Zn/Ni) derived from ZIF-67 hollow spheres were fabricated through facile ion exchange and heat treatment. The prepared composites possess hollow configurations with homogeneously dispersed trimetallic active species on the shells. Among all the ternary metallic derivatives, hollow spheres supporting Cu, Fe, and Co oxides (HS-CuFeCoO x ) exhibited highest electrocatalytic activity towards oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The improved OER performance ascribed to the inherent electrocatalytic properties of the ternary metal active species and microstructure by hollow structure design and heat treatment, which offered an effective synthetic strategy for the fabrication of trimetallic oxide composites for as OER electrocatalysts.