Enhanced electrocatalytic water oxidation using cobalt-based polyaniline hybrid assembly

Abstract This study investigates the performances of cobalt-based polyaniline hybrid electrocatalyst towards oxygen evolution reaction. The hybrid materials were prepared electrochemically using different deposition protocols. The prepared electrocatalyst proved to have low overpotential, high current density, high electrochemical surface area, and enhanced oxygen evolution performance. Current-time chronoamperometric response was used to study the stability of the electrode materials toward oxygen evolution. Scanning electron microscopy shows that the deposition protocols were associated with significant changes in the electrode materials' morphology. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy verifies the incorporation of metal ions and illustrates that different deposition protocols significantly alter the film composition. X-ray diffraction patterns indicate the preservation of the crystal structure of Co3O4 after deposition on ITO and Pan.