Carbon dots-oriented synthesis of fungus-like CoP microspheres as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for efficient overall water splitting

The development and optimization of transition metal-based bifunctional electrocatalysts for both hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are critical for high-efficient water splitting. Herein, we propose a carbon dots-oriented strategy for fabricating nitrogen-doped carbon dots/fungus- like CoP microsphere composite on Ni foam (CoP-NCDs/NF). Owing to its unique structure and the strong interactions between carbon dots and CoP, the newly developed CoP-NCDs/NF electrode exhibits significantly enhanced HER and OER bifunctional catalytic activities, with over-potentials as low as 103 and 226 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm(-2), respectively. Accordingly, the CoP-NCDs/NF displays excellent overall water splitting performance with a low cell voltage of 1.55 V at 10 mA cm(-2) and great stability in a two-electrode alkaline electrolyzer. This study provides an alternative pathway on rationally designing and fabricating carbon dots-based materials for high performance water electrolysis and other energy conversion fields. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study introduces a carbon dots-oriented strategy to fabricate nitrogen-doped carbon dots/fungus-like CoP microsphere composite, which shows significantly enhanced bifunctional catalytic activities for hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions. This newly developed electrode demonstrates excellent performance for water splitting with high efficiency and stability.