Hierarchical structured CoP nanosheets/carbon nanofibers bifunctional eletrocatalyst for high-efficient overall water splitting

The design of efficient, stable, and economical electrocatalysts for oxygen and hydrogen evolution reaction (OER and HER) is a major challenge for overall water splitting. Herein, a hierarchical structured CoP/carbon nanofibers (CNFs) composite was successfully synthesized and its potential application as a high-efficiency bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall splitting water was evaluated. The synergetic effect of two-dimensional (2D) CoP nanosheets and one-dimensional (1D) CNFs endowed the CoP/CNFs composites with abundant active sites and rapid electron and mass transport pathways, and thereby significantly improved the electrocatalytic performances. The optimized CoP/CNFs delivered a current density of 10 mA cm(-2) at low overpotential of 325 mV for OER and 225 mV for HER. In the overall water splitting, CoP/CNFs achieved a low potential of 1.65 Vat 10 mA cm(-2). The facile strategy provided in the present work can facilitate the design and development of multifunctional non-noble metal catalysts for energy applications. (C) 2021 Science Press and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. and Science Press. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The hierarchical CoP/CNFs composite synthesized in this study improved electrocatalytic performance and reduced the overpotential for overall water splitting. This provides a new approach for the design and development of multifunctional non-noble metal catalysts.