N-doped CoP nanoparticles embedded in electrospun N-doped porous carbon nanofiber as high-efficiency oxygen evolution electrocatalysts

The development of high-efficiency and low-cost oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts has attracted increasing research attention. Herein, we report a novel nanocomposite of N-doped CoP nanoparticles embedded in porous carbon nanofibers (N-CoP@NPCNFs) synthesized using zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67)@Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers (ZIF-67@PNFs) as the precursor through carbonization, oxidation and phosphidation with N-doping. The fabricated N-1-CoP@NPCNFs-900 shows outstanding electrocatalytic properties for OER due to a synergistic effect between the carbon nanofibers and the N-doped CoP nanoparticles. It exhibits a low overpotential of only 266 mV at 10 mA cm(-2), a small Tafel slope of 70 mV dec(-1) and excellent durability for OER in 1.0 M KOH. Therefore, the obtained N-1-CoP@NPCNFs-900 is promising for application as a high-efficiency and low-cost OER electrocatalyst. (C) 2020 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Automated summary

A novel nanocomposite of N-doped CoP nanoparticles embedded in porous carbon nanofibers has been synthesized, showing outstanding electrocatalytic properties for oxygen evolution reaction. This material has the potential for cost-effective and high-efficiency applications.