In situ development of amorphous Mn-Co-P shell on MnCo 2 O 4 nanowire array for superior oxygen evolution electrocatalysis in alkaline media.

Exploitation of efficient and earth-abundant electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is of great importance. Herein, we report that the formation of an amorphous Mn-Co-P shell on MnCo2 O4 can boost its OER activity in alkaline media. The core-shell Mn-Co-P@MnCo2 O4 nanowire array on Ti mesh (Mn-Co-P@MnCo2 O4 /Ti) shows excellent electrochemical catalytic activity and requires an overpotential of 269 mV to drive 10 mA cm-2 in 1.0 M KOH, which is 93 mV less than that for the MnCo2 O4 nanoarray. Notably, this catalyst also shows strong long-term electrochemical durability with its activity being maintained for at least 100 h and achieves a high turnover frequency of 1.06 s-1 at an overpotential of 450 mV.