Production of manganese telluride-based manganese oxide nano-composite works as a catalyst for effective oxygen evolution reaction

Schematic illustration of OER mechanism using MnTe based MnO electrocatalyst. [Display omitted] •Synthesis of novel MnTe@MnO nanostructures via reduction reaction.•MnTe@MnO nanostructures shows good morphology with enhanced surface area.•MnTe@MnO nanostructures shows lower Tafe slope of 39 mV/dec and smaller overpotential of 208 mV for OER.•The scalable MnTe@MnO nanostructures shows robust stability for 30 h for commercial applications. Individuals experiencing poverty and possessing limited financial resources are particularly susceptible to impacts of climate change and rising costs associated with fossil fuels. In response to this pressing issue, researchers are actively investigating water oxidation as a sustainable solution to mitigate the challenges posed by climate changes and energy crisis. The oxygen evolution reaction (OER), which plays a pivotal role in water electrolysis, necessitates the utilization of highly stable and efficient electrode materials to overcome its intrinsic sluggish kinetics and enhance the overall efficiency of the electrochemical device. This investigation employed a reduction method to synthesize manganese oxide (MnO) nanoparticles, using manganese telluride (MnTe) as the base material, yielding a MnTe@MnO nanocomposite. This innovative composite was subsequently immobilized onto a nickel foam (NF) substrate. Remarkably, the MnTe@MnO nanocomposite exhibited exceptional OER performance in a 1.0 M alkaline solution, manifesting an impressively low overpotential of 208 mV at a benchmark current density of 10 mA cm−2. This overpotential significantly surpassed that of the individual MnTe and MnO electrode materials, underscoring the synergistic advantages of the MnTe@MnO nanocomposite. Further analysis revealed a notably shallow Tafel slope of 39 mV dec-1, indicative of the enhanced reaction kinetics and electrocatalytic efficiency inherent to the MnTe@MnO nanocomposite. Moreover, the durability assessment over a span of 30 h demonstrated minimal current loss, emphasizing the substantial electrocatalytic active surface area of the fabricated nanocomposite.