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It is of great significance to design a bifunctional electrocatalyst for promoting hydrogen (HER) and oxygen (OER) evolution reactions simultaneously. Herein, inspired by the appropriate H atom binding energy on cobalt phosphides and excellent oxygen evolution kinetics on cobalt oxides, the regulative synthesis of a Co2P–Co x O y (Co x O y  = CoO or Co3O4) heterogeneous nanoparticle‐anchored porous carbon network electrocatalyst via one‐pot heat treatment is reported. The as‐synthesized Co2P–Co3O4/C exhibits superior electrochemical activity with low overpotentials of 86 mV for HER and 246 mV for OER at 10 mA cm−2 in an alkaline electrolyte. Moreover, compared to the commercial Pt/C || RuO2/C system, the Co2P–Co3O4/C || Co2P–Co3O4/C system presents outstanding activity toward overall water splitting (1.55 V@10 mA cm−2), which is well maintained over long‐term (120 h) electrocatalysis. Density functional theory calculations show that the rich interfaces between Co2P and Co3O4 offer a synergistic effect, which enables Co2P–Co3O4/C as an excellent electrocatalyst toward both HER and OER.

The green synthesis method was used to effectively fabricate Ag-NPs by using Thespesia populnea bark extract. The structural, morphological, elemental composition, and optical properties of as-synthesized Ag-NPs were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (P-XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and UV-Vis spectroscopy. Their photocatalytic efficiency as a photocatalyst was examined by degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye under direct sunlight irradiation. After 120 minutes of sunlight irradiation, Ag-NPs show photocatalytic degradation efficiency (DE percent) of 92%. The hydroxyl and superoxide radicals were found to be responsible for biodegradation. To the best of our acquaintance, this is the first research to use Ag-NPs as a photocatalyst for the efficient degradation of MB dye and its antimicrobial activity by using Thespesia populnea bark extract. The cytotoxic viability against SK-MEL cell line with a median inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 45 μL/mg proved its potent anticancer property. Based on the findings, the study revealed the significance of as-synthesized green Ag-NPs over other physically/chemically prepared Ag-NPs.

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