Development of ZnCo alloy enclosed in N-doped carbon with hexagonal close packing crystal phase inspires potential oxygen evolution reaction

The tuned crystal structure and electrical properties of metal alloy nanoparticles can vary their catalytic capabilities. In the present study, hexagonal close-packed (hcp) ZnCo nanoalloy enclosed in N-doped carbon (hcp-ZnCo@NC) are created using a simple fabrication approach and are characterized via various complementary techniques. The fabricated hcp-ZnCo@NC shows remarkable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance in alkaline conditions (1 M KOH). The synthesized hcp-ZnCo@NC with Zn/Co ratio of ≈ 1:1 exhibits overpotentials of 282 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm⁻² with a smaller tafel slope of 51.9 mV dec⁻¹, and good stability of 30 h. These characteristics of the present material are better when compared with the state of the art. The enhanced efficiency of the hcp-ZnCo@NC is because of its favorable electron transfer characteristics and high conductivity. Hence, this study offers a new perception for future applications due to the unique crystal phase-linked electrical properties.