Mesoporous Co3O4 Nanobundle Electrocatalysts

Tailoring metal oxide nanostructures with mesoporous architectures is vital to improve their electrocatalytic performance. Herein, we demonstrate the synthesis of 2D mesoporous Co3O4 (meso‐Co3O4) nanobundles with uniform shape and size by employing a hard‐template method. In this study, the incipient wetness impregnation technique has been chosen for loading metal precursor into the silica hard template (SBA‐15). The results reveal that the concentration of a saturated precursor solution plays a vital role in mesostructured ordering, as well as the size and shape of the final meso‐Co3O4 product. The optimized precursor concentration allows us to synthesize ordered meso‐Co3O4 with four to seven nanowires in each particle. The meso‐Co3O4 structure exhibits excellent electrocatalytic activity for both glucose and water oxidation reactions. Hard matter: The synthesis of 2D mesoporous Co3O4 nanobundles through a hard‐template route is reported. The size and shape control of mesoporous Co3O4 (see figure; OER=oxygen evolution reaction) were discussed. The prepared material shows decent electrocatalytic activity towards the oxidation of glucose and water.