Round-the-clock bifunctional honeycomb-like nitrogen-doped carbon-decorated Co2P/Mo2C-heterojunction electrocatalyst for direct water splitting with 18.1% STH efficiency

Hydrogen production via solar and electrochemical water splitting is a promising approach for storing solar energy and achieving a carbon-neutral economy. However, hydrogen production by photoelectric coupling remains a challenge. Here, by the cooperative coupling of heteroatoms and a heterojunction interface engineering strategy in a limited space, a honeycomb porous Co2P/Mo2C@NC catalyst was obtained for the first time. In contrast most traditional chemical syntheses, this method maintains excellent electrical interconnections among the nanoparticles and results in large surface areas and many catalytically active sites. Theoretical calculations reveal that the construction of a heterostructure can effectively lower the hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen evolution reaction barriers as well as improve the electrical conductivity, consequently enhancing the electrochemical performance. Significantly, the overall water-splitting hydrolytic tank assembled using AsGa solar cells enabled the system to achieve a stable solar hydrogen conversion efficiency of 18.1%, which provides a new approach for facilitating large-scale hydrogen production via portable water hydrolysis driven by solar cells.

Automated summary

In this study, a high-efficiency catalyst for photoelectric coupling hydrogen production was successfully prepared by using heteroatoms and heterojunction interface engineering strategy. The catalyst can lower the energy barriers of hydrogen evolution and oxygen evolution reactions, and improve the electrical conductivity, thereby enhancing the electrochemical performance. By applying this catalyst to a solar water-splitting tank, a stable solar hydrogen conversion efficiency was achieved.