Concurrent occurrence of electrochemical dissolution/deposition of cobalt–calcium phosphate composite

Abstract

Amorphous cobalt–calcium phosphate composite (CCPC) films are electrochemically prepared on various electrodes by utilizing the solid phase of hydroxyapatite as a phosphate source. The CCPC film formation is surface process in which the dissolution of hydroxyapatite and the deposition of CCPC film concurrently occur on the electrode surface without the mass transfer of phosphate ions into the bulk solution. Elemental, crystallographic, and morphological analyses (EDX, ICP-AES, XPS, and XRD) indicate that the CCPC is composed of amorphous cobalt oxide with calcium and phosphate. The film exhibits durable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalytic properties under neutral and basic aqueous condition. Compared to using solution phase of phosphate source, our preparation method utilizing solid hydroxyapatite has advantage of preventing unnecessary chemical reaction between phosphate and other chemical species in bulk solution.