In-situ growth of hierarchical CuO@Cu3P heterostructures with transferable active centers on copper foam substrates as bifunctional electrocatalysts for overall water splitting in alkaline media. (22nd February 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lv, Siye; Li, Junqi; Zhang, Beiyi; Shi, Yunli; Liu, Xuan; Wang, Ting
• Is Part Of: International journal of hydrogen energy. Volume 47:Number 16(2022)
• Page Start: 9593
• Page End: 9605
• Publication Date: 2022-02-22
• Subjects: Bifunctional electrocatalysts -- Heterostucture -- Transferable active centers -- Overall water splitting; Hydrogen as fuel -- Periodicals; Hydrogène (Combustible) -- Périodiques; Hydrogen as fuel; Periodicals; 665.81
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2022.01.037
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0360-3199

Abstract

Abstract: To fulfill the growing demand for green H2 fuels, low-cost, efficient, and stable bifunctional electrocatalysts must be developed. Herein, a hierarchical CuO@Cu3 P/CF nanowire core-shell heterostructure with transferable active centers was developed for a bifunctional electrocatalyst with high activity. In this system, the transfer of electrochemically active centers between Cu3 P and CuO is used to facilitate the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), respectively. Particularly, Cu3 P acts as the active center for HER, while the active center shifts to CuO for OER reaction, and Cu3 P acts as a co-catalyst to improve the conductivity of the system. Benefit from superhydrophilicity's high electrochemical surface area and synergistic effect of CuO core and Cu3 P shell, and CuO@Cu3 P/CF shown significant catalytic activity for hydrogen or oxygen evolution, requiring low overpotentials of 144 and 267 mV to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm −2 . In addition, the assembled CuO@Cu3 P/CF-based electrolyzer exhibit excellent overall water splitting performance with a low operating voltage of 1.75 V at 10 mA cm −2 and a negligible decrease in catalytic activity. This gives encouraging evidence for the utility of our catalysts in application areas. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: CuO@Cu3 P/CF was successfully synthesized via growth-oxidation-phosphidation procedure. Nanostructured substrate integrated growth ensured good mechanical bonding between CuO@Cu3 P and CF. The rough surface and stacked nanosheets make it easy for liquids to penetrate between the nanosheets. The OER active site is derived from Cu III produced from Cu II after the cathodic oxidation reaction.