Enhanced water electrolysis performance of bifunctional NiCoP electrocatalyst in alkaline media

Electrolysis of water is an efficient strategy for developing sustainable energy sources due to its energy-saving and renewable features. However, the low efficiency limits its practical application on large scale. To address this issue, we synthesize ternary NiCoP sheet-like structures grown on nickel foam via a facile hydrothermal route and subsequent phosphating process. The as-obtained NiCoP-1.0 sample shows an overpotential of 84 mV @10 mA cm-2 for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and 216 mV @50 mA cm-2 for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Moreover, the samples deliver a voltage of 1.69 V at 50 mA cm-2 for overall water splitting. This work provides a general protocol for designing highly efficient non-noble metal electrocatalysts.

Automated summary

Electrolysis of water is an efficient strategy for developing sustainable energy sources, but its low efficiency limits its large-scale application. In this study, ternary NiCoP sheet-like structures were synthesized and showed low overpotentials for hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions, as well as high voltage for overall water splitting, providing a general protocol for designing efficient non-noble metal electrocatalysts.