High electrocatalytic activity of cobalt–multiwalled carbon nanotubes–cosmetic cotton nanostructures for sodium borohydride electrooxidation

Flexible and wearable cobalt electrode with a unique three-dimensional hierarchical-network structure is prepared by electrodeposition of spherical Co particles onto multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) which are assembled on the skeleton of cosmetic cotton (CC). The morphology and phase structure of the cobalt–multiwalled carbon nanotubes–cosmetic cotton (Co–MWNTs–CC) electrode are characterized by scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope and X-ray diffraction spectrometer. The NaBH4 electrooxidation performance on the Co–MWNTs–CC electrode is investigated by means of cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. Results show that the Co–MWNTs–CC electrode exhibits remarkably high catalytic activity and good stability for NaBH4 electrooxidation. The oxidation current density reaches as high as 170 mA cm−2 at −0.7 V in 1.0 mol dm−3 NaOH and 0.1 mol dm−3 NaBH4, which is higher than the most-related previous results.