Fe doped amorphous single layered vanadyl phosphate nanosheets as highly efficient electrocatalyst for water oxidation

The search for earth-abundant water oxidation electrocatalysts with low-cost and high-performance is essential to the energy conversion field. Well defined, rational designed two-dimensional materials have attracted enormous interest in light of much more specific surface areas and unique electronic properties. Herein, we report a facile two-phase solvothermal approach for the synthesis of Fe doped amorphous single-layered (~0.85 nm) vanadyl phosphate nanosheets (Fe-Am VOPO₄). The obtained electrocatalyst exhibits excellent OER electrocatalytic performance, only require overpotential of 215 mV and 270 mV to reach current densities of 10 and 100 mA cm^-2 in 1.0 M KOH electrolyte, and long-term electrochemical stability of 40 h. This work strikes out a path of synthesis of graphene-like materials with amorphous phase, and explores a new type of phosphate for efficient OER electrocatalysts.