In situ assembly of metal-organic framework-derived N-doped carbon/Co/CoP catalysts on carbon paper for water splitting in alkaline electrolytes

High-performance and cost-effective catalysts for water splitting are key components of hydrogen-based energy technologies. Metal-organic framework (MOF)-derived metal phosphide composites have immense potential as highly active and stable electrocatalysts but suffer from the poor efficacy of available electrode assembly methods. In this study, an MOF-derived nitrogen-doped porous carbon/Co/CoP/carbon paper (NC/Co/CoP/CP) composite electrode was assembled by electrophoretic deposition and post-processing reactions. The binder-free electrode showed good catalytic activity, significantly higher than that of traditional electrodes. The electrode required overpotentials of 208 and 350 mV to achieve a current density of 10 mA/cm(2) for the hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions, respectively. This facile synthetic method provides a promising route for designing metal-doped and multi-metal phase MOF-derived composite electrodes for energy storage and conversion devices. (C) 2020, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.