Accelerated structural transformation of metal-organic frameworks via interfacial engineering for efficient oxygen evolution reaction

Most metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) undergo structural transformations during the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), prompting the development of more catalytically active metal oxyhydroxides. However, one of the biggest challenges still is managing the MOF reconstruction process. Here, we present an interface engineering strategy to encourage MOFs to structurally change into metal oxyhydroxides, which are more active in the OER process. By meticulous design, the NiSe/CoFc ' (CoFc-MOF, Fc ' = 1,1 '-ferrocenecarboxylic acid) heterojunction was successfully constructed, exhibiting remarkable interface coupling effects. This characteristic not only facilitates efficient electron transfer from CoFc ' to NiSe, and accelerates the structural transformation process of CoFc ', but also activates more catalytic active sites. Compared to pure CoFc ', NiSe/CoFc ' exhibits enhanced structural transformation capability, occurring in a shorter time and at a lower voltage, with more catalytic sites being activated. Furthermore, the transformed NiSe/CoFc ' displays suprior catalytic activity with an overpotential of 227 mV at a current density of 100 mA cm(-2), surpassing the single-component CoFc '. And the Faradaic efficiency of NiSe/CoFc ' is near to 99.6%. This approach offers a noval avenue for the levelheaded plan of non-precious metal electrocatalysts for water electrolysis, enabling the control of structural conversion through interface engineering.