Microscopic-Level Insights into P-O-Induced Strong Electronic Coupling Over Nickel Phosphide with Efficient Benzyl...

Electrooxidation of biomass into fine chemicals coupled with energy-saving hydrogen production for a zero-carbon economy holds great promise. Advanced anode catalysts determine the cell voltage and electrocatalytic efficiency greatly, further the rational design and optimization of their active site coordination remains a challenge. Herein, a phosphorus-oxygen terminals-rich species (Ni₂P-O-300) via an anion-assisted pyrolysis strategy is reported to induce strong electronic coupling and high valence state of active nickel sites over nickel phosphide. This ultimately facilitates the rapid yet in-situ formation of high-valence nickel with a high reaction activity under electrochemical conditions, and exhibits a low potential of 1.33 V vs. RHE at 10 mA cm^-2, exceeding most of reported transition metal-based catalysts. Advanced spectroscopy, theoretical calculations, and experiments reveal that the functional P-O species can induce the favorable local bonding configurations for electronic coupling, promoting the electron transfer from Ni to P and the adsorption of benzyl alcohol (BA). Finally, the hydrogen production efficiency and kinetic constant of BA electrooxidation by Ni₂P-O-300 are increased by 9- and 2.8- fold compared with the phosphorus-oxygen terminals-deficient catalysts (Ni₂P-O-500). This provides an anion-assisted pyrolysis strategy to modulate the electronic environment of the Ni site, enabling a guideline for Ni-based energy/catalysis systems.