LAUSR

Abstract It's still an ongoing research challenge to explore non-precious metal-based catalysts for substituting precious metal catalysts during full water electrocatalysis. Herein, we reported the partially oxidized cobalt species in nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes hierarchical structures to produce dual-functionality towards oxygen/hydrogen evolution reactions. The in situ transformation of carbon nanotubes and well-exposed metal-oxide contributes to mass diffusion and greater electrolyte-accessible surface area. The as-synthesized catalyst displays low overpotentials of 287 mV and 171 mV for oxygen and hydrogen evolution reactions at 10 mA cm−2 of current density with remarkable performance during long-term stability. Furthermore, when employed as cathode and anode, a respectable performance of 1.68 V demonstrated our catalyst as an efficient bifunctional material for conducting water-splitting operation.