Boosting Hydrazine Oxidation Reaction on CoP/Co Mott-Schottky Electrocatalyst through Engineering Active Sites

The hydrazine oxidation reaction (HzOR), as a substitute for the sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER), is identified as a promising powerfrugal strategy for hydrogen production through water splitting. However, the HzOR activity of the present electrocatalysts is unsatisfying because the work potential is much higher than the theoretical value. Herein, we design a typical Mott-Schottky electrocatalyst consisting of CoP/Co nanoparticles for the HzOR, which exhibits remarkable HzOR activity with ultralow potentials of -69 and 177 mV at 10 and 100 mA cm(-2), respectively. It stands out in a range of cobalt-based materials and is even comparable to some precious-metal-based materials composed of Pt or Ru. A shown by with structural characterization and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, the interfaces between CoP/Co nanoparticles not only provide the active sites of HzOR but also promote the multistep dehydrogenation reaction of N2H4, thus enhancing the HzOR activity.

Automated summary

Hydrazine oxidation reaction (HzOR) is considered a substitute for the slow oxygen evolution reaction (OER) for hydrogen production through water splitting. A CoP/Co nanoparticle electrocatalyst with low overpotentials exhibited remarkable HzOR activity, showing potential as a promising material for efficient HzOR.