Monodispersed Mesoporous Silica Spheres Supported Co3O4 as Robust Catalyst for Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

Monodispersed mesoporous silica spheres (MSS) with fibrous nanostructure and highly open porosity were fabricated by a facile one-pot synthetic route and loaded with Co₃O₄ nanoclusters for catalyzing the oxygen evolution reaction with Ru(bpy)₃²⁺-S₂O₈²⁻ photosensitizer and sacrificial reagent system. The effect of the loading amount on the morphology and microstructure of Co₃O₄ was investigated and it was found that lower Co₃O₄ content in the composite materials results in smaller crystallite size, which in turn leads to significantly enhanced oxygen evolution activity. Furthermore, owing to the monodispersity of the spheres and good accessibility of active species offered by the fibrous pore structure, the material shows a clear advantage over nonsupported Co₃O₄ nanoparticles and the commonly used ordered mesoporous silica supports such as KIT-6 and SBA-15. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]