Nanoporous Zn-doped Co3O4 sheets with single-unit-cell-wide lateral surfaces for efficient oxygen evolution and water splitting

Highlights: • Nanoporous Zn-doped Co₃O₄ sheets with abundant lateral surfaces are synthesized. • The lateral surfaces exposed more oxygen vacancies than base and top surfaces. • The sheets exhibit unparalleled performances for catalyzing OER in alkaline media. • The sheets exhibit unparalleled performances for catalyzing OWS in alkaline media. Nanoporous Zn-doped Co₃O₄ sheets with abundant lateral surfaces are developed. The lateral surfaces have single-unit-cell width (0.84 ± 0.03 nm) and contain more oxygen vacancies than conventional base/top surfaces, causing ultrahigh activity and durability for oxygen evolution and overall water splitting. Thus, the sheets are promising for practical and green hydrogen production.