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Nano Research 2023, 16(5): 6601-6607 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-5390-y
Research Article | Issue | Published: 03 January 2023

Designing heterostructured FeP–CoP for oxygen evolution reaction: Interface engineering to enhance electrocatalytic performance

Show Author's Information Shuang Hou1,2,  Ansai Zhang1,  Qi Zhou1,  Yingjie Wen2,  Sixie Zhang2,3,  Linfeng Su2,  Xinjie Huang2,  Tian Wang2,  Kun Rui4,  Cheng Wang1,  Huiling Liu1( ),  Zhiyi Lu2,3,  Peilei He2,3( )
Institute for New Energy Materials and Low-Carbon Technologies, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Porous Materials, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300384, China
Institute of New Energy Technology, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronics (KLOFE), Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Nanjing Tech University (NanjingTech), Nanjing 211816, China
Keywords:
oxygen evolution reaction, electrocatalysts, synergistic effect, interface engineering, FeP–CoP heterostructures
Topics:
Electrocatalysis
Cite this article:
Hou S, Zhang A, Zhou Q, et al. Designing heterostructured FeP–CoP for oxygen evolution reaction: Interface engineering to enhance electrocatalytic performance. Nano Research, 2023, 16(5): 6601-6607. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-5390-y
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

It is significant to develop highly efficient electrocatalysts for energy conversion systems. Interface engineering is one of the most feasible approaches to effectively enhance the electrocatalytic activity. Herein, the density functional theory (DFT) calculations predict that the potential barriers of Fe sites at the interface of FeP–CoP heterostructures are lower than that of Fe sites in FeP nanoparticles (NPs), Co sites in CoP NPs, or Co sites in heterostructures. Motivated by the DFT calculation results, FeP–CoP heterostructures have been designed and synthesized by a metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) confined-phosphorization method. The FeP–CoP exhibits the lowest overpotential of 230 mV at the current density of 10 mA·cm−2 for oxygen evolution reaction (OER), compared with FeP (470 mV) and CoP (340 mV), which outperforms most of transition metal-based catalysts. The Tafel analysis of FeP–CoP heterostructures shows an improved reaction kinetic pathway with the smallest slope of 90.3 mV·dec−1, as compared to the Tafel slopes of FeP NPs (137 mV·dec−1) and CoP NPs (114 mV·dec−1). And the FeP–CoP shows extraordinary long-term stability over 24 h. The excellent activity and long-term stability of FeP–CoP derive from the synergistic effect between FeP and CoP.


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About this article

Designing heterostructured FeP–CoP for oxygen evolution reaction: Interface engineering to enhance electrocatalytic performance

Show Author's information Shuang Hou1,2, Ansai Zhang1, Qi Zhou1, Yingjie Wen2, Sixie Zhang2,3, Linfeng Su2, Xinjie Huang2, Tian Wang2, Kun Rui4, Cheng Wang1, Huiling Liu1( ), Zhiyi Lu2,3, Peilei He2,3( )
Institute for New Energy Materials and Low-Carbon Technologies, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Porous Materials, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300384, China
Institute of New Energy Technology, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronics (KLOFE), Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Nanjing Tech University (NanjingTech), Nanjing 211816, China

Abstract

It is significant to develop highly efficient electrocatalysts for energy conversion systems. Interface engineering is one of the most feasible approaches to effectively enhance the electrocatalytic activity. Herein, the density functional theory (DFT) calculations predict that the potential barriers of Fe sites at the interface of FeP–CoP heterostructures are lower than that of Fe sites in FeP nanoparticles (NPs), Co sites in CoP NPs, or Co sites in heterostructures. Motivated by the DFT calculation results, FeP–CoP heterostructures have been designed and synthesized by a metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) confined-phosphorization method. The FeP–CoP exhibits the lowest overpotential of 230 mV at the current density of 10 mA·cm−2 for oxygen evolution reaction (OER), compared with FeP (470 mV) and CoP (340 mV), which outperforms most of transition metal-based catalysts. The Tafel analysis of FeP–CoP heterostructures shows an improved reaction kinetic pathway with the smallest slope of 90.3 mV·dec−1, as compared to the Tafel slopes of FeP NPs (137 mV·dec−1) and CoP NPs (114 mV·dec−1). And the FeP–CoP shows extraordinary long-term stability over 24 h. The excellent activity and long-term stability of FeP–CoP derive from the synergistic effect between FeP and CoP.

Keywords: oxygen evolution reaction, electrocatalysts, synergistic effect, interface engineering, FeP–CoP heterostructures

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Publication history
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Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 31 October 2022
Revised: 28 November 2022
Accepted: 05 December 2022
Published: 03 January 2023
Issue date: May 2023

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press 2023

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 22101289 and 22275138), the Hundred Talents Programs in Chinese Academy of Science, the National Key Research and Development Project (No. 2021YFA1502200), the Bellwethers Project of Zhejiang Research and Development Plan (No. 2022C01158), and the Ningbo Yongjiang Talent Introduction Programme (No. 2021A-111-G).

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