Fe/Fe₃C@CNTs anchored on carbonized balsa wood composites for oxygen evolution reaction

The oxygen evolution reaction plays a crucial role in addressing the increasingly urgent energy crises. As a green and renewable material, the unique microchannels of wood make it an excellent precursor for catalyst loading. However, the low activity and poor conductivity of wood-based catalysts severely restrict their application. This study proposes a facial method for in-situ growth of N-doped bamboo-like carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with highly active catalytic sites (Fe/Fe₃C) on carbonized wood (CW). The prepared Fe/Fe₃C@CNTs form a novel 3D interwoven conductive surface network, which significantly optimizes the overall activity and conductivity. In addition, the mass transfer of natural vertical channels was investigated through finite element simulation. Therefore, the Fe/Fe₃C@CNTs-800/CW with superhydrophilic/superaerophobic capabilities exhibits low overpotential (241 mV) and outstanding durability (200 h) at 10 mA cm⁻².