Facile one-step synthesis of Ru doped NiCoP nanoparticles as highly efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction

Transition metal phosphides (TMPs) as ever-evolving electrocatalytic materials have attracted increasing attention in water splitting reactions owing to their cost-effective, highly active and stable catalytic properties. This work presents a facile synthetic route to NiCoP nanoparticles with Ru dopants which function as highly efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline media. The Ru dopants induced a high content of Ni and Co vacancies in NiCoP nanoparticles, and the more defective Ru doped NiCoP phase than undoped NiCoP ones led to a greater number of catalytically active sites and improved electrical conductivity after undergoing electrochemical activation. The Ru doped NiCoP catalyst exhibited high OER catalytic performance in alkaline media with a low overpotential of 281 mV at 10 mA cm(-2) and a Tafel slope of 42.7 mV dec(-1).

Automated summary

This study presents a facile synthetic route to NiCoP nanoparticles with Ru dopants, which exhibit high catalytic performance for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline media with low overpotential and high Tafel slope. The Ru dopants induce a higher content of Ni and Co vacancies in NiCoP nanoparticles, leading to more catalytically active sites and improved electrical conductivity after electrochemical activation.