The development of efficient and stable non-precious metal electrocatalysts is crucial for sustainable hydrogen production via water electrolysis. To address the common limitations of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), such as poor conductivity and stability, we designed and synthesized a bimetallic cobalt-iron MOF (CoFe-MOF). Electrochemical tests reveal its exceptional bifunctional activity, requiring low overpotentials of 106 mV for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and 202 mV for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at 10 mA cm⁻². Furthermore, an electrolyzer employing CoFe-MOF as both anode and cathode achieves overall water splitting with a cell voltage of only 1.42 V at 10 mA cm⁻². These results demonstrate that bimetallic doping endows MOFs with superior catalytic performance and stability, positioning CoFe-MOF as a promising candidate for practical green hydrogen generation. To address the poor conductivity and stability of conventional metal-organic frameworks, the researchers developed a bimetallic cobalt-iron doped MOF (CoFe-MOF) as a bifunctional catalyst for overall water splitting. The catalyst requires overpotentials of only 106 mV for HER and 202 mV for OER at 10 mA cm⁻², and enables overall water splitting at a low cell voltage of 1.42 V in a two-electrode electrolyzer. These results demonstrate the exceptional catalytic performance and synergistic effect of CoFe-MOF, highlighting its great promise as an efficient, non-precious metal-based catalyst for sustainable hydrogen production.
Zhang et al. (Mon,) studied this question.