The electrochemical splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen is considered one of the most promising approaches to generate clean and sustainable energy. However, the low efficiency of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) acts as a bottleneck in the water splitting process. Herein, interface engineering heterojunctions between ZIF‐67 and layered double hydroxide (LDH) are designed to enhance the catalytic activity of the OER and the stability of Co‐LDH. The interface is built by the oxygen (O) of Co‐LDH and nitrogen (N) of the 2‐methylimidazole ligand in ZIF‐67, which modulates the local electronic structure of the catalytic active site. Density functional theory calculations demonstrate that the interfacial interaction can enhance the strength of the CoOout bond in Co‐LDH, which makes it easier to break the H‐Oout bond and results in a lower free energy change in the potential‐determining step at the heterointerface in the OER process. Therefore, the Co‐LDH@ZIF‐67 exhibits superior OER activity with a low overpotential of 187 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 and long‐term electrochemical stability for more than 50 h. This finding provides a design direction for improving the catalytic activity of OER.
3 February 2021 in Journal of the American Chemical Society
Although nanozymes have been widely developed, accurate design of highly active sites at the atomic level to mimic the electronic and geometrical structure of enzymes and the exploration of underlying mechanisms still face significant challenges. Herein, two functional groups with opposite electron modulation abilities (nitro and amino) were introduced into the metal–organic frameworks (MIL-101(Fe)) to tune the atomically dispersed metal sites and thus regulate the enzyme-like activity. Notably, the functionalization of nitro can enhance the peroxidase (POD)-like activity of MIL-101(Fe), while the amino is poles apart. Theoretical calculations demonstrate that the introduction of nitro can not only regulate the geometry of adsorbed intermediates but also improve the electronic structure of metal active sites. Benefiting from both geometric and electronic effects, the nitro-functionalized MIL-101(Fe) with a low reaction energy barrier for the HO* formation exhibits a superior POD-like activity. As a concept of the application, a nitro-functionalized MIL-101(Fe)-based biosensor was elaborately applied for the sensitive detection of acetylcholinesterase activity in the range of 0.2–50 mU mL−1 with a limit of detection of 0.14 mU mL−1. Moreover, the detection of organophosphorus pesticides was also achieved. This work not only opens up new prospects for the rational design of highly active nanozymes at the atomic scale but also enhances the performance of nanozyme-based biosensors.