Citation: Guanjun Chen, Jiayi Yang, Zheming Huang, Long Chen, Wenyuan Duan, Tong Wang, Xingang Kong, Haibo Yang. Engineering the interlayer sodium density in layered sodium cobalt oxide for boosted chlorine evolution reaction[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2025, 36(12): 111662. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2025.111662 shu

Engineering the interlayer sodium density in layered sodium cobalt oxide for boosted chlorine evolution reaction

Guanjun Chen ^a ,
Jiayi Yang ^a ,
Zheming Huang ^a ,
Long Chen ^a ,
Wenyuan Duan ^{b, *,} ,
Tong Wang ^a ,
Xingang Kong ^{a, *,} ,
Haibo Yang ^{a, *,}

a.
School of Material Science and Engineering, Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Green Preparation and Functionalization for Inorganic Materials, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710021, China
b.
Xi’an Key Laboratory of Advanced Photo-electronics Materials and Energy Conversion Device, Xijing University, Xi’an 710123, China

wenyuanduan@foxmail.com

yezhu_1983@163.com

yanghaibo@sust.edu.cn

Received Date: 24 June 2025
Revised Date: 19 July 2025
Accepted Date: 30 July 2025
Available Online: 31 July 2025

Figures(4)

Layered sodium cobaltate (Na_xCoO₂), characterized by CoO₂ slabs and intralayer edge-shared CoO₆ octahedra, holds promising potential as an electrocatalyst for chlorine evolution reaction (CER). However, the suboptimal adsorption of the intermediate on Na_xCoO₂ resulted in unsatisfactory activity. Herein, Na_xCoO₂ flakes with varying sodium densities (x = 0.6, 0.7, 0.9) were engineered for efficient CER. Excitingly, the optimal Na_0.7CoO₂ achieves an ultralow overpotential (55.47 mV) outperforming commercial RuO₂ at 10 mA/cm², while remaining inactive toward the competing OER. Experimental and theoretical calculations demonstrate that appropriate interlayer sodium density has optimized the d-band center level of Co atoms in Na_xCoO₂, thereby weakening the strength of Co-Cl bonds. This modulation facilitates the adsorption-desorption equilibrium of Cl species (∆G_Cl* = -0.109 eV) on the surface and kinetically accelerating Cl₂ release. This work is anticipated to elucidate the mechanism by which interlayer sodium density modifies the catalytic performance of Na_xCoO₂, and present new insights for the rational design of advanced CER electrocatalysts.
- Sodium cobaltate flakes,
- Sodium density regulation,
- Optimized intermediate adsorption,
- Chlorine evolution reaction,
- Electrocatalysis
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