Regulation of Co3O4 morphology via ionic liquid for efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts

In the context of energy scarcity, the development of bifunctional electrocatalysts with both high efficiency and activity is crucial. Extensive research has focused on Co3O4, showing significant promise as a catalyst for both the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, the impact of Co3O4 morphology on catalytic activity remains unclear. Herein, Co(3)O(4 )of different morphology was synthesized by tuning ionic liquid (C10H15N5) content during a one step solvothermal and subsequent low temperature heat treatment approach. In this process, the competitive coordination of C10H15N5 with different content and cobalt nitrate enables the regulation of the morphology of cobalt carbon composite (Referred to as amCoC). After pyrolysis, the obtained Co3O4 not only inherited the morphology of the amCoC, but also exposed different active sites. In particular, compared with other morphologies of Co3O4, the open yolk-shell Co3O4 exposed more active sites and exhibited special morphology, and had stronger catalytic activity of OER and ORR. This strategy paves the way for optimizing the morphology of Co3O4 catalysts to improve catalytic activity.