S-doped CoP nanoneedles assembled urchin-like structure for efficient water oxidation

The electrocatalysts with low-price and high-efficiency for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are of significant importance for water splitting, which is believed as the promising technique for future sustainable energy system. Herein, sulfur is doped into carbon cloth supported CoP nanoneedles assembled urchin-like structure to acquire improved intrinsic catalysis efficiency, fast charge diffusion, and additional catalysis sites for enhanced OER performance. The specific urchin-like assembly structure is beneficial for highly exposed active sites and short charge transfer path for catalysis. Benefited from the advantages, the obtained sample exhibits advanced OER activity even better than RuO2 in alkaline solution, achieving low overpotentials of 248 and 380 mV at current densities of 10 and 100 mA cm-2, respectively. This study may set a blueprint for exploring efficient transition metal pounds based catalyst for water splitting with nonmetal doping engineering.

Automated summary

In this study, sulfur-doped CoP nanoneedles assembled into a urchin-like structure on carbon cloth are shown to have improved efficiency and performance for the oxygen evolution reaction. This unique structure provides highly exposed active sites and short charge transfer paths, leading to advanced OER activity in alkaline solution, potentially setting a blueprint for efficient catalysts for water splitting.