Triphasic Ni2P-Fe2P-CoP heterostructure interfaces for efficient overall water splitting powered by solar energy

In this study, we design a triphasic Ni2P - Fe2P - CoP heterostructure appearing under the form of a hierarchical 3D core-shell hybrid (CoP@Ni2P - Fe2P) for bifunctionally catalyzing both hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline medium. Density functional theory results indicate that the rich interfaces of Ni2P - Fe2P - CoP architecture exhibit the best electronic properties and enhanced multiple electroactive site number with optimum hydrogen adsorption energy, significantly surpassing the CoP, CoP-Ni2P, or CoP-Fe2P cases. Therefore, the electrolyzer cell of CoP@Ni2P - Fe2P(& PLUSMN;,-) requires a small operating voltage of 1.51 V to reach 10 mA cm-2 during alkaline water splitting, outperforming the commercial catalyst couple of Pt/C(-)//RuO2(& PLUSMN;) and numerous earlier reports. In addition, the solar-driven water splitting system demonstrates a high solar-to-hydrogen (STH) conversion of 15.33 %, along with excellent long-term stability. The results open a potential approach to design innovative high-performance electrocatalysts for practical green hydrogen production via electrochemical water splitting process.

Automated summary

In this study, a triphasic Ni2P - Fe2P - CoP heterostructure was designed for the bifunctional catalysis of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline medium. The architecture of Ni2P - Fe2P - CoP exhibited the best electronic properties and enhanced multiple electroactive site number, resulting in a high performance in alkaline water splitting. Moreover, the solar-driven water splitting system demonstrated a high solar-to-hydrogen conversion and excellent long-term stability.