@article{Yan_Wang_Zhang_Dong_Wang_Carlos_Zhang_Cao_Mao_Wang_2020, title={Nanoparticle-Decorated Ultrathin La2O3 Nanosheets as an Efficient Electrocatalysis for Oxygen Evolution Reactions}, volume={12}, url={https://nmlett.org/index.php/nml/article/view/508}, DOI={10.1007/s40820-020-0387-5}, abstractNote={<p>Electrochemical catalysts for oxygen evolution reaction are a critical component for many renewable energy applications. To improve their catalytic kinetics and mass activity are essential for sustainable industrial applications. Here, we report a rare-earth metal-based oxide electrocatalyst comprised of ultrathin amorphous La<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> nanosheets hybridized with uniform La<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> nanoparticles (La<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>@NP-NS). Significantly improved OER performance is observed from the nanosheets with a nanometer-scale thickness. The as-synthesized 2.27-nm La<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>@NP-NS exhibits excellent catalytic kinetics with an overpotential of 310&nbsp;mV at 10&nbsp;mA&nbsp;cm<sup>−2</sup>, a small Tafel slope of 43.1&nbsp;mV&nbsp;dec<sup>−1</sup>, and electrochemical impedance of 38&nbsp;Ω. More importantly, due to the ultrasmall thickness, its mass activity, and turnover frequency reach as high as 6666.7&nbsp;A&nbsp;g<sup>−1</sup> and 5.79&nbsp;s<sup>−1</sup>, respectively, at an overpotential of 310&nbsp;mV. Such a high mass activity is more than three orders of magnitude higher than benchmark OER electrocatalysts, such as IrO<sub>2</sub> and RuO<sub>2</sub>. This work presents a sustainable approach toward the development of highly efficient electrocatalysts with largely reduced mass loading of precious elements.</p> <p>Highlights:</p> <p>1 The 2.27-nm-thick hybridized quasi-2D structure of La<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> crystalline nanoparticles embedded in La<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> amorphous nanosheets (La<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>@NP-NS) exhibited a low overpotential of 310 mV at 10 mA cm<sup>−2</sup>.<br>2 The mass activity of La<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>@NP-NS reached as high as 6666.7 A g<sup>−1</sup> at overpotential of 310 mV. Such a high mass activity was more than three orders of magnitude higher than that of benchmark IrO<sub>2</sub> (4.4 A g<sup>−1</sup>) and RuO<sub>2</sub> (2.05 A g<sup>−1</sup>) and five orders of magnitude higher than that of commercial La<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> (0.048 A g<sup>−1</sup>).</p>}, journal={Nano-Micro Letters}, author={Yan, Guangyuan and Wang, Yizhan and Zhang, Ziyi and Dong, Yutao and Wang, Jingyu and Carlos, Corey and Zhang, Pu and Cao, Zhiqiang and Mao, Yanchao and Wang, Xudong}, year={2020}, month={Feb.}, pages={49} }