Carbon-incorporated bimetallic phosphide nanospheres derived from MOFs as superior electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution. Issue 38 (7th September 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Shao, Xiaoxuan; Xu, Shusheng; Wang, Peijie; Wen, Yi; Sun, Xuecheng; Hong, Min; Wu, Kaiwei; Shi, Xue-Rong
• Is Part Of: Dalton transactions. Volume 51:Issue 38(2022)
• Page Start: 14517
• Page End: 14525
• Publication Date: 2022-09-07
• Subjects: Chemistry, Inorganic -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Physical and theoretical -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Inorganic -- Periodicals; 546.05
• DOI: 10.1039/d2dt02204d
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1477-9226

Abstract

Abstract : The CoFe-P/C material could afford a current density of 10 mA cm −2 with overpotentials of 138 and 193 mV for the HER in acidic and alkaline solutions, respectively. Abstract : Preparing low-cost and highly efficient electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction using a simple strategy still faces challenges. In this work, we proposed a facile phosphating process to successfully transform CoFe-BTC (BTC = 1, 3, 5-benzenetricarboxylate) precursors into carbon-incorporated bimetallic phosphide (CoFe-P/C) nanospheres. Due to the synergistic effect between bimetals and uniformly covered carbon shells outside, the as-synthesized porous bimetallic phosphide nanospheres exhibit superior HER activity, enhanced kinetics, and excellent cycle durability in both acidic and alkaline solutions. The optimized material could afford a current density of 10 mA cm −2 with overpotentials of 138 and 193 mV for the HER in acidic and alkaline solutions, respectively. Meanwhile, it delivered small Tafel slopes of 84 and 78 mV dec −1 for the HER in 0.5 M H2 SO4 and 1.0 M KOH, respectively. Moreover, an assembled alkaline electrolyzer enabled a low voltage of 1.62 V to drive a current density of 10 mA cm −2 for overall water splitting. DFT calculations indicate that the CoP–Fe2 P composite is supposed to exhibit better HER performance than each component, revealing the vital role of the interfacial site in catalyzing the HER.