Ni2P/MoP encapsulated in N, P-doped carbon nanotubes on carbon cloth for long-lasting electrocatalytic water splitting

The construction of high-performance bifunctional self-supported electrodes is significant for promoting the activity and stability of water splitting. The self-supported electrode not only has a strong structural characterization but also avoids the negative effects of using binders. Herein, we fabricated a self-supported electrode (Ni2P/MoP@CNTs-CC), which is composed of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) directly grown on carbon cloth (CC) filled with transition metal-based phosphide composite nanoparticles. The optimized Ni2P/MoP@CNTs-CC electrode exhibits promising hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalytic performance. Ni2P/MoP@CNTs-CC shows a low overpotential of 87 mV at - 10 mA cm-2 and 360 mV at 40 mA cm-2 for HER and OER, respectively. Besides, the Ni2P/MoP@CNTs-CC electrode was also used as an anode and cathode, simultaneously, showing a cell voltage of 1.89 V at 50 mA cm-2 and excellent stability at 50 mA cm-2 for more than 100 h. This work provides a facile method for preparing a low-cost and robust selfsupported electrode for water splitting.

Automated summary

The construction of high-performance bifunctional self-supported electrodes is significant for promoting water splitting. This study presents a facile method to prepare a low-cost and robust self-supported electrode (Ni2P/MoP@CNTs-CC) that exhibits promising electrocatalytic performance for both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER).