Electrocatalytic activity of MoP/CNTs nanohybrid for water splitting: a step towards improved HER kinetics

For a successful shift to sustainable hydrogen evolution catalysis, high-performance electrocatalysts that are both active and stable without the use of precious metals are required. In the case presented within this study, a pure phase molybdenum phosphide-carbon nanotubes (MoP/CNTs) nanohybrid is introduced as a bidirectional electrocatalyst for alkaline water splitting. In the MoP/CNTs nanohybrid, the MoP shows superior catalytic performance with low overpotentials of 81 mV for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and 245 mV for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), with Tafel slopes of 34 mV dec^-1 and 96 mV dec^-1, respectively. The MoP/CNTs nanohybrid is capable of overall water splitting with high efficiency via the formation of an electronic interface between the MoP active sites and the conductive CNTs support. Phosphide-carbon nanohybrids can now be employed as an abundant resource approach for the sustainable evolution of hydrogen.