Surface facets dependent oxygen evolution reaction of single Cu2O nanoparticles

Understanding and establishing the structure-activity relation of nanoparticles is a prerequisite for rational design of high-performance electrocatalysts. Cu2O nanoparticles enclosed with different crystal facets, namely, o-Cu2O NPs with {111} facets, c-Cu2O NPs with {100} facets are prepared and their electrocatalytic properties for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline condition are evaluated at single nanoparticle level with a combination of scanning electrochemical cell microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. It is found that the o-Cu2O NPs have significantly superior OER electrocatalytic activity compared to c-Cu2O, which is almost inert. The estimated turnover frequency (TOF) at 1.97 V vs. RHE on {111} facet increases from 4 s−1 to 115 s−1 with the octahedron edge length decreasing from 1.3 µm to 100 nm. Deposition of carbon on c-Cu2O surface barely promotes the activity, suggesting the inherent poor electric conductivity within the nanocrystal is most likely the reason for low activity. This work provides direct probing to single transition metal oxide crystals with dramatically different activity.