N, P Codoped CoMoO₄ Nanowire Arrays: Enhanced Water-Splitting Performance and Dynamic Reconstruction Mechanism

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Catalysis

Background:

• Developing efficient nonprecious metal bifunctional electrocatalysts is crucial for low-cost water splitting.
• Cobalt molybdate (CoMoO4) shows promise but requires improved hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance.
• Understanding the dynamic structural evolution and doping mechanisms is key to catalyst optimization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To elucidate the effects of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) codoping on CoMoO4 catalysts for HER and OER.
• To investigate the dynamic reconstruction mechanisms of N/P-doped CoMoO4 under electrocatalytic conditions.
• To establish structure-performance relationships for designing advanced water-splitting catalysts.

Main Methods:

• Electrochemical testing (overpotential, charge-transfer resistance, stability measurements).
• Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations to analyze electronic structure and band gaps.
• Synthesis and characterization of N/P-doped CoMoO4 catalysts.

Main Results:

• NP_CoMoO4 demonstrated superior HER performance with the lowest overpotential (161 mV at 10 mA cm-2) and excellent stability.
• P_CoMoO4 exhibited enhanced OER activity with an overpotential of 377 mV at 100 mA cm-2.
• DFT calculations confirmed that N/P codoping reduces the band gap, improving electron conduction for HER, while P doping enhances conductivity and stability for OER.

Conclusions:

• Nonmetallic doping effectively regulates the restructuring behavior and catalytic performance of CoMoO4.
• N/P codoping offers a viable strategy for developing highly efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts for water splitting.
• The study provides mechanistic insights into doping effects on catalyst performance for hydrogen production.