Citation: Qingyu JU, Shuang PENG, Shijia CHEN, Rongzhi SUN, Shoutian ZHENG, Pingwei CAI, Xinxiong LI. Two Anderson-type cobalt clusters: Synthesis and electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance in neutral electrolyte[J]. Chinese Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, ;2026, 42(11): 2343-2352. doi: 10.11862/CJIC.20260105 shu

Two Anderson-type cobalt clusters: Synthesis and electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance in neutral electrolyte

Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Inorganic Oxygenated Materials, College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350108, China

Corresponding author: Pingwei CAI, cai2022@fzu.edu.cn Xinxiong LI, lxx@fzu.edu.cn
Received Date: 1 April 2026
Revised Date: 24 June 2026

Figures(4)

Herein, we report the solvothermal synthesis of two distinct Anderson-type heptanuclear cobalt clusters, 1-BzO [Co₇(L)₂(acac)₄(BzO)₄(ⁱPrO)₂][Co(acac)₂]·8CH₃CN and 1-OAc [Co₇(L)₂(acac)₄(OAc)₄(MeO)₂][Co(acac)₂]·9CH₃CN, utilizing 2-(hydroxymethyl)-2-(pyridin-4-yl)propane-1,3-diol (H₃L), benzoic acid (BzOH)/salicylic acid, and cobalt acetylacetonate(Co(acac)₂). Despite sharing identical metallic skeletons, variations in their peripheral ligands significantly govern their electrocatalytic behavior. Electrochemical evaluations demonstrated that 1-OAc exhibited markedly superior catalytic activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in neutral electrolyte, achieving an overpotential of only 303 mV at a current density of 10 mA·cm^-2 with a Tafel slope of 184 mV·dec^-1.
- electrocatalysis,
- hydrogen evolution reaction,
- Anderson-type cluster,
- solvothermal synthesis
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