Cation Doped MOF derived CuO/MO (M=Zn, Ni, Mn) Based Nanocomposite: Its Bifunctional Activity for Electrochemical Sensing of Clioquinol and Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Abstract

The rational design and implementation of a simple sequential template-mediated strategy to build noble-metal-free, effective bifunctional electrocatalysts for the efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and the electrochemical detection of Clioquinol (CLQ), a hazardous environmental compound, have emerged as a difficult task.1,2 In this work, we have designed cation (M= Zn, Ni, Mn) doped Cu-BTC metal-organic framework (MOF) via a simple solvothermal approach and calcined to produce CuO/MO bimetallic oxides. These oxides are then decorated on 3D reduced graphene oxides (3DrGO) to get designed 3DrGO-CuO/MO based nanocomposites. The nanocomposite modified working electrode was then used to examine the bifunctional activity of CLQ electrochemical sensing (ECS) and electrocatalytic OER studies. The modified 3DrGO-CuO/MO working electrode showed CLQ detection in a wider linear range with a limit of detection (LOD) value of 33 pM by square wave voltammetry (SWV) analysis. On the other hand, the freshly fabricated 3DrGO-CuO/MO working electrode exhibited OER activity with an overpotential of 310 mV to attain 10 mA cm-2 current density (J). Also, the Tafel slope value was 46 mV/dec, which is lower than the benchmark RuO2 due to faster kinetics. The chronoamperometry study revealed a higher stability of the designed nanocomposite. These proven results may pave the way for developing an alternative electrocatalyst for the dual-purpose, highly effective electrochemical detection of CLQ and OER activity.