Beyond Platinum: Defects Abundant CoP3/Ni2P Heterostructure for Hydrogen Evolution Electrocatalysis

Water electrolysis is a promising option for pure hydrogen production, but it is limited by the high cost. Developing superb and low‐cost electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is critical for cost reduction. Heterostructures are demonstrated with excellent HER activities, but still...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Small science 2021-04, Vol.1 (4), p.n/a
Main Authors: Zhang, Lijie, Zhuang, Linzhou, Liu, Hongli, Zhang, Longzhou, Cai, Rongsheng, Chen, Ning, Yang, Xianfeng, Zhu, Zhonghua, Yang, Dongjiang, Yao, Xiangdong
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
heterostructures
hydrogen evolution reaction
interfacial defects
O-refilling
P-vacancy
water splitting
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Summary:Water electrolysis is a promising option for pure hydrogen production, but it is limited by the high cost. Developing superb and low‐cost electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is critical for cost reduction. Heterostructures are demonstrated with excellent HER activities, but still inferior to commercial Pt/C. Herein, vacancy type of defects is engineered into the interface of CoP3/Ni2P heterostructure by a plasma strategy. The as‐synthesized defective CoP3/Ni2P exhibits lower overpotentials than Pt/C. Its specific activity at overpotential of 50 mV is ≈2‐fold and 1.7‐fold higher than that of Pt/C in acidic and alkaline media, respectively. For water electrocatalysis, its current density reaches 215 mA cm−2 at 2.0 V, even satisfying the target of practical industrial water splitting. Theoretical calculations indicate that the interfacial defects reconstruct the electronic structure and accelerate the charge transfer, facilitating the adsorption of reactant and lowering the energy barrier of water dissociation, thereby improving HER activities. Defective CoP3/Ni2P heterostructures exhibit ultralow η10 of 21 and 37 mV in acidic and alkaline conditions, respectively, outperforming those of Pt/C. More importantly, defective CoP3/Ni2P can satisfy the requirements of practical industrial water splitting, outperforming almost all the reported catalysts. Theoretical calculation verifies the critical role of interfacial defects on hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity of CoP3/Ni2P.
ISSN:2688-4046
2688-4046
DOI:10.1002/smsc.202000027