Ionic Liquid-Derived Co3O4-N/S-Doped Carbon Catalysts for the Enhanced Water Oxidation

The development of cost-effective electrocatalyst with high activity and stability during the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a prerequisite for commercialization of several energy storage/generation technologies. Herein, porous carbon materials doped with Co, nitrogen, and sulfur were synthesized through the carbonization of a mixture containing [1-vinylimidazolium] [HSO4] ionic liquid (IL) and CoCl2 under an inert atmosphere. The structural diversity of ionic liquids offered control over the structure and properties of the carbon materials at the molecular level. The protic ionic liquid used acted as a soft template and a source of heteroatoms. A change in the mass ratio of cobalt chloride to ionic liquids resulted in materials with three different morphologies with/without S and N. The resulting Co10-NS-C material exhibited considerably enhanced catalytic performance toward the OER, which compared favorably to that of state-of-the-art Ru-based catalysts. Moreover, the Co10-NS-C catalyst demonstrated...