Integrating the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and urea oxidation reaction (UOR) is an energy‐saving approach for electrolytic H2 production. Here, hollow NiCoP nanoprisms are derived from Prussian blue analogues by a combined self‐template coordination reaction and gas‐phase phosphorization strategy. Benefiting from the strong electron interaction, unique hollow nanostructure, and enhanced mass/charge transfer, NiCoP nanoprisms display outstanding alkaline HER and UOR performance. Specifically, low potentials of −0.052, −0.115, and −0.159 V for HER and ultralow potentials of 1.30, 1.36, and 1.42 V for UOR at current densities of 10, 50, and 100 mA cm−2 are obtained. Moreover, in a urea‐assisted water electrolysis system, NiCoP nanoprisms only require cell voltages of 1.36, 1.49, and 1.57 V to offer current densities of 10, 50, and 100 mA cm−2, about 170, 180, and 200 mV less than the traditional water electrolysis. Theoretical calculations indicate the Co substitution in Ni2P promotes the adsorption and dissociation of water molecules, optimizes the desorption energy of active hydrogen atoms, and enhances the adsorption of urea molecules, thus accelerating the kinetics of HER and UOR. This work facilitates the application of hollow bimetallic phosphides in electrochemical preparation of clean energy and provides a successful paradigm for urea‐rich wastewater electrolysis.
In this work, small‐sized CuS nanoparticles/N, S co‐doped rGO composites (CuS@N/S‐G‐Cn) are synthesized by a facile route with the metal‐containing ionic liquids (MILs) [CnMMim]2[CuCl4] (n is 6, 8, 10 representing the number of C atoms in the alkyl chain of imidazolium cation) as the precursors. In the composites, the CuS nanoparticles with small size of sub‐20 nm are homogeneously dispersed in nitrogen and sulfur co‐doped reduced graphene oxide (rGO). The highly dispersed nanosized CuS are embedded on excellent conductive doped rGO substrates to supply not only large quantity of accessible active sites for lithium‐ion insertion but also short diffusion length for lithium ions, while the N and S co‐doping in rGO can efficiently restrain the polysulfides dissolution and circumvent the volume expansion/contraction associated with lithium insertion/extraction during charge–discharge processes. Bestowed by these advantages, the CuS@N/S‐G‐Cn composites exhibit enhanced electrochemical performance for lithium storage. Especially, when [C6MMim]2[CuCl4] is chosen as the precursor, the obtained electrode material CuS@N/S‐G‐C6 delivers a reversible capacity as high as 603.5 mAh g−1 at 200 mA g−1 after 300 cycles and 530 mAh g−1 at 2 A g−1 after 1000 cycles.
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