Synergistically Coupled CoMo/CoMoP Electrocatalyst for Highly Efficient and Stable Overall Water Splitting.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Sustainable Energy

Background:

• Efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts are crucial for water splitting and sustainable energy development.
• Transition metal phosphides (TMPs) are effective electrocatalysts, but enhancing their performance through interfacial engineering remains a challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and synthesize a novel heterostructure electrocatalyst with strong interfacial coupling for enhanced water splitting.
• To investigate the synergistic effects between cobalt-molybdenum (CoMo) alloy particles and CoMoP nanosheets.

Main Methods:

• Template-assisted conversion followed by electrodeposition was used to prepare the CoMo/CoMoP/NF heterostructure.
• Electrochemical characterization was performed to evaluate the catalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER).

Main Results:

• The CoMo/CoMoP/NF catalyst exhibited low overpotentials of 29 mV for HER and 246 mV for OER in 1 M KOH at 10 mA cm⁻².
• An assembled CoMo/CoMoP || CoMo/CoMoP electrode achieved 10 mA cm⁻² at a low voltage of 1.54 V.

Conclusions:

• The strong interfacial coupling and synergistic effects in the CoMo/CoMoP heterostructure significantly boost catalytic performance.
• This work provides a valuable strategy for constructing bimetallic alloy/phosphide heterostructures for large-scale electrocatalytic energy conversion.