Metallic Co4N Porous Nanowire Arrays Activated by Surface Oxidation as Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Designing highly efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) plays a key role in the development of various renewable energy storage and conversion devices. In this work, we developed metallic Co4N porous nanowire arrays directly grown on flexible substrates as highly active OER electrocatalysts for the first time. Benefiting from the collaborative advantages of metallic character, 1D porous nanowire arrays, and unique 3D electrode configuration, surface oxidation activated Co4N porous nanowire arrays/carbon cloth achieved an extremely small overpotential of 257 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2, and a low Tafel slope of 44 mV dec−1 in an alkaline medium, which is the best OER performance among reported Co‐based electrocatalysts to date. Moreover, in‐depth mechanistic investigations demonstrate the active phases are the metallic Co4N core inside with a thin cobalt oxides/hydroxides shell during the OER process. Our finding introduces a new concept to explore the design of high‐efficiency OER electrocatalysts. Metallic Co4N porous nanowire arrays activated by surface oxidation are shown to be highly efficient OER electrocatalysts. Benefiting from multiple synergistic effects of metallic character, 1D porous nanowire structure, and unique 3D electrode configuration, Co4N NW/CC achieves the best OER performance among well‐developed Co‐based electrocatalysts to date.