Ce and MoS2 dual-doped cobalt aluminum layered double hydroxides for enhanced oxygen evolution reaction

Abstract Element doping has become an important means of designing and developing efficient and stable Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER). In this work, a new type of CoAl LDH doped with Ce and MoS2 was designed and prepared. The catalyst first prepared Ce-doped CoAl LDH (Ce–CoAl LDH) by co-precipitation and one-step hydrothermal method. Then, MoS2 was introduced between Ce–CoAl LDH layers by hydrothermal method. The double doping of Ce and MoS2 could significantly improve the electrocatalytic activity of CoAl LDH. At the current density of 10 mA/cm2, the potential of 5% Ce–CoAl LDH@MoS2 is 1.508 V, which is much lower than the 1.733 V of CoAl LDH. And the ECSA of 5% Ce-CoAL LDH@MoS2 (23.4 mF/cm2) is nearly 8 times that of CoAl LDH (7.9 mF/cm2). Its excellent OER performance benefits from the increase of active sites and the enhancement of conductivity. This work provides a new research idea for doping design of effective OER electrocatalysts.