title: Engineering surface atomic structure of single-crystal cobalt (II) oxide nanorods for superior electrocatalysis.
abstract: Engineering the surface structure at the atomic level can be used to precisely and effectively manipulate the reactivity and durability of catalysts. Here we report tuning of the atomic structure of one-dimensional single-crystal cobalt (II) oxide (CoO) nanorods by creating oxygen vacancies on pyramidal nanofacets. These CoO nanorods exhibit superior catalytic activity and durability towards oxygen reduction/evolution reactions. The combined experimental studies, microscopic and spectroscopic characterization, and density functional theory calculations reveal that the origins of the electrochemical activity of single-crystal CoO nanorods are in the oxygen vacancies that can be readily created on the oxygen-terminated {111} nanofacets, which favourably affect the electronic structure of CoO, assuring a rapid charge transfer and optimal adsorption energies for intermediates of oxygen reduction/evolution reactions. These results show that the surface atomic structure engineering is important for the fabrication of efficient and durable electrocatalysts.
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Composite and Functional Materials, Key Laboratory for Advanced Ceramics and Machining Technology of Ministry of Education, Institute of New-Energy, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China.|School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ling
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Composite and Functional Materials, Key Laboratory for Advanced Ceramics and Machining Technology of Ministry of Education, Institute of New-Energy, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China.
authors.forename: Dong-Yang
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Aerospace Materials and Performance (Ministry of Education), School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia.
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Composite and Functional Materials, Key Laboratory for Advanced Ceramics and Machining Technology of Ministry of Education, Institute of New-Energy, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China.
authors.forename: Xueli
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Composite and Functional Materials, Key Laboratory for Advanced Ceramics and Machining Technology of Ministry of Education, Institute of New-Energy, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Composite and Functional Materials, Key Laboratory for Advanced Ceramics and Machining Technology of Ministry of Education, Institute of New-Energy, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China.
authors.forename: Xi-Wen
authors.initials: XW
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: School of Physics, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
authors.forename: Zhenpeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA.
authors.forename: Mietek
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1178-5611
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jaroniec
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Composite and Functional Materials, Key Laboratory for Advanced Ceramics and Machining Technology of Ministry of Education, Institute of New-Energy, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China.|School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia.
authors.forename: Shi-Zhang
authors.initials: SZ
authors.lastname: Qiao