Large-area manganese oxide nanorod arrays as efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction

Large-area manganese oxide nanorod arrays (MnO2 NRAs) have been directly grown vertically on Ti foil with a uniform length and diameter by a simple electrochemical method without any templates. The deposition temperature is one of the most important parameters for formation MnO2 NRAs and at 25 °C no MnO2 NRAs can be obtained. The results show that MnO2 has high activity and good stability for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and the structure of nanorod arrays pronounced enhances MnO2 activity. The onset potential of MnO2 NRAs is lower than that of Pt foil and lower 401 mV than that of MnO2 film, indicating that the structure of MnO2 NRAs shows an easy OER for water split. The MnO2 NRAs may be of great potential in electrochemical water split.

► MnO2 nanorod arrays (NRAs) are firstly reported for oxygen evolution reaction.
► Onset potential of MnO2 NRAs is lower 401 mV than that of MnO2 film.
► MnO2 NRAs has much higher activity than Pt for oxygen evolution reaction.