Ultrathin Rhodium Oxide Nanosheet Nanoassemblies: Synthesis, Morphological Stability, and Electrocatalytic Application

Inspired by graphene, ultrathin two-dimensional nanomaterials with atomic thickness have attracted more and more attention because of their unique physicochemical properties and electronic structure. In this work, the atomically thick ultrathin Rh 2 O 3 nanosheet nanoassemblies (Rh 2 O 3 -NSNSs) were obtained by oxidizing the atomically thick ultrathin Rh nanosheet nanoassemblies with HClO. For the first time, Rh-based nanostructures were used as the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalyst in an alkaline medium. Surprisingly, the as-prepared Rh 2 O 3 -NSNSs displayed extremely improved catalytic activity and durability for the OER compared with those of the commercial Ir/C catalyst and most recently reported Ir-based electrocatalysts. The result indicated Rh-based nanostructures that have great promise to become a potential candidate for efficient OER electrocatalyst because of the similarity of Rh and Ir prices. These experimental results demonstrated the reasonable morphological control of Rh 2 O 3 nanostructures could significantly improve their catalytic activity and durability during heterogeneous catalysis.