Self-Supported Gold-Silk-Chrysanthemum-Like Superstructures Arrays Derived from Mn-doped CoPS Nanowires with Superhydrophilic and Superaerophobic Surface for Enhanced Oxygen Evolution

Metal phosphosulfides (layered MPS₃ or pyrite-type MPS) nanostructures have emerged as promising active materials for optoelectronics, magnetism, energy storage, and catalysis. Despite great progress that has been achieved, controllable synthesis of cationic-doped CoPS nanostructures or related superstructures arrays remains challenging, and their electrocatalytic applications toward oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are not explored. Herein, the self-supported Mn-doped CoPS nanowire-based gold-silk-chrysanthemum-like superstructures arrays on carbon cloth (CC) with variable Mn-content (Mn-CoPS-x%/CC) are fabricated by thermal conversion of MnCo-layered-double-hydroxides-x%/CC precursors under P_xS_y vapor/Ar atmosphere. Compared with pure CoPS/CC, all the Mn-CoPS-x%/CC show greatly enhanced electrocatalytic OER activity. Due to the suited Mn-doping content and unique microstructure-induced superhydrophilic and superaerophobic surface that can optimize electronic structure, offer more available active sites, and foster desorption of O₂ product, the Mn-CoPS-5%/CC manifests the best OER activity with a low overpotential (270 mV) to reach 20 mA cm⁻² current density and high turnover frequency (0.13 s⁻¹), outperforming its counterparts, IrO₂/CC and most of recently reported OER catalysts. Moreover, such Mn-CoPS-5%/CC exhibits good catalytic stability. This work offers an efficient avenue for optimizing MPS nanostructures toward OER by combining doping and structure engineering strategies, and may promote their applications in water-splitting or other clean energy options.