Citation: Haowen He, Qian Zhao, Zhimeng Wang, Lihuan Yang, Yimei Gao, Haitao Lei, Rui Cao. A dinuclear cobalt corrole for boosted electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2026, 37(11): 111832. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2025.111832 shu

A dinuclear cobalt corrole for boosted electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction

Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710119, China

leiht2017@snnu.edu.cn

ruicao@snnu.edu.cn

Received Date: 17 July 2025
Revised Date: 6 September 2025
Accepted Date: 11 September 2025
Available Online: 12 September 2025

Figures(6)

The electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) holds significant importance in new energy conversion and storage technologies. Improving the activity of the ORR is vital for the practical applications of these technologies. Herein, we report on the construction of a dinuclear Co corrole complex 1 featuring a bimetallic active center and its electrocatalytic ORR features in acidic, neutral, and alkaline aqueous solutions. Experimental studies demonstrate that Co corrole 1 exhibits excellent electrocatalytic ORR activity for the four-electron reduction of O₂ to water. In a 0.1 mol/L KOH solution, 1 achieves a half-wave potential (E_1/2) of 0.88 V versus RHE, significantly outperforming its mononuclear analogue Co corrole 2 (0.75 V versus RHE). Importantly, complex 1 also exhibits large anodic shifts of 290 mV (in pH 7.0 phosphate buffer) and 150 mV (in 0.5 mol/L H₂SO₄) for the half-wave potential as compared to its mononuclear analogue 2. Moreover, the number of electrons transferred during the electrocatalytic ORR with dinuclear complex 1 is up to 3.86. These findings demonstrated that dinuclear Co corrole sites significantly facilitate the four-electron ORR. Therefore, this work is significant to present dinuclear Co corrole 1 as a highly active and selective electrocatalyst for the four-electron ORR and to demonstrate the crucial synergistic effect of well-designed bimetallic active sites for efficient electrocatalytic ORR.
- Cobalt corrole,
- Dinuclear complex,
- Oxygen reduction reaction,
- High activity,
- Molecular electrocatalysis
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