Surface defect-engineered Fe doping in layered Co-based complex as highly efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts for overall water splitting.

The electrocatalytic splitting of water to produce hydrogen is regarded as an efficient and promising strategy but is limited by its large overpotential; thus, a highly efficient electrocatalyst is urgently needed. Mixed metal doping is an important strategy in defect engineering because the heteroatoms can change the intrinsic structure to form defects by affecting the atomic coordination mode and adjusting the electronic structure, which is often accompanied by morphological changes. Herein, two-dimensional layered bimetallic Co-pydc containing axially coordinated water molecules was selected by producing surface defects through Fe doping in Co centers as bifunctional electrocatalysts for OER and HER.