Quantum-sized CoP nanodots with rich vacancies: Enhanced hydrazine oxidation, hydrazine-assisted water splitting, and
Wenxin Wang1, Jiangjiang Zhang1, Jinsheng Rong1
1Hebei Provincial Key Laboratory of Photoelectric Control on Surface and Interface, School of Sciences, Hebei University of Science and Technology, Shijiazhuang 050018, China.
Abstract:
Reducing the size of catalysts and tuning their electronic structure and interfacial properties are key to enhancing catalytic performance. Herein, a series of quantum-sized Co-based nanodot composites, including Co3O4/C, CoS2/C, CoN/C, and CoP/C, were synthesized using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) methods. By means of experimental measurement and theoretical calculation, CoP/C exhibited more robust electrochemical response than other Co-based compounds in electrochemical oxidation of N2H4 (HzOR) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The catalytic activities of CoP/C can be further enhanced by introducing Co vacancies on the surface of CoP/C (labeled as Co1-xP/C). The results demonstrated that Co1-xP/C not only exhibited notable electrochemical responses at an ultra-low N2H4 concentration of 0.67 μM, showcasing its potential for ultra-sensitive N2H4 detection but also realized HzOR instead of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) half-reaction, thereby lowering the overpotential to 2.0 mV at 10.0 mA cm-2. Finally, a Zn-hydrazine (Zn-Hz) battery was fabricated as a promising energy conversion device, showing the exceptional practical value of Co1-xP/C.
