Cobalt Nanoparticles/Black Phosphorus Nanosheets: An Efficient Catalyst for Electrochemical Oxygen Evolution

Abstract

Black phosphorus (BP) nanosheet (NS) is an emerging oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalyst with both high conductivity and abundant active sites. However, its ultrathin structure suffers instability because of the lone pair electrons exposed at the surface, which badly restricts durability for achieving long‐term OER catalysis. Herein, a facile solvothermal reduction route is designed to fabricate Co/BP NSs hybrid electrocatalyst by in situ growth of cobalt nanoparticles on BP NSs. Notably, electronic structure engineering of Co/BP NSs catalyst is observed by electron migration from BP to Co due to the higher Fermi level of BP than that of Co. Because of the preferential migration of the active lone pairs from the defect of BP NSs, the stability and high hole mobility can be effectively retained. Consequently, Co/BP NSs electrocatalyst exhibits outstanding OER performance, with an overpotential of 310 mV at 10 mA cm−2, and excellent stability in alkaline media, indicating the potential for the alternatives of commercial IrO2. This study provides insightful understanding into engineering electronic structure of BP NSs by fully utilizing defect and provides a new idea to design hybrid electrocatalysts.

Recent Advances on Black Phosphorus Based Electrocatalysts for Water‐Splitting

“…The preferential migration of the active lone-pairs protected BP against degradation, giving rise to excellent electrocatalytic stability, and outstanding OER performance (Figure 3b) with a low overpotential (310 mV at 10 mA cm À 2 ), which can be competitive with commercial IrO 2 (297 mV). [74] Furthermore, BP-Modified Co 3 O 4 as an efficient OER electrocatalyst was reported by our group. [58] Particularly, two mixed valence states: Co 2 + and Co 3 + coexist in spinel Co 3 O 4 , and Co 2 + is identified as the catalytic active site, dominating the OER activity, while Co 3 + slows down the whole catalytic activity of Co 3 O 4 , which tends to bond with hydroxy groups.…”

“…Our group engineered the electronic structure of cobalt nanoparticles/BP nanosheets (Co/BP) catalyst, where by using the active lone‐pairs at the surface of BP, electron migration was realized from BP to Co due to the higher Fermi level of BP than that of Co (Figure a). The preferential migration of the active lone‐pairs protected BP against degradation, giving rise to excellent electrocatalytic stability, and outstanding OER performance (Figure b) with a low overpotential (310 mV at 10 mA cm −2 ), which can be competitive with commercial IrO 2 (297 mV) . Furthermore, BP‐Modified Co 3 O 4 as an efficient OER electrocatalyst was reported by our group .…”

“…[76] Copyright © 2019, American Chemical Society. [66] Co/BP 1 M KOH 310 61 [74] Co 3 O 4 @BP 1 M KOH 400 63 [58] Co(OH) 2 /BP 5 : 1 1 M KOH 276 57 [75] S-doped BP 1 M KOH 410 75 [77] Ni 3 N/BP-AG 1 M KOH 233 42 [79] Ni 3 N j Ni 2 P j BP 1 M KOH 247 79 [80] FPQDs 1 M NaOH 430 48 [81] CoO x -BPQDs 1 M KOH 360 58.5 [82] BP/Co 2 P 1 M KOH 380 78 [83] EBP@NG(1 : 8) 1 M KOH 265 - [85] BP QDs/MXene 1 M KOH 360 63.4 [84] ChemCatChem Minireviews doi.org/10.1002/cctc.201902288…”

N‐doped Carbon‐coated Metal Sulfides/Phosphides Derived from Protic Salts for Oxygen Evolution Reaction

“…Electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction (OER) has great significance for energy storage and conversion technology owing to its low energy consumption, clean and environmentally friendly process . The key for OER is developing highly efficient electrocatalysts.…”

“…This work not only provides a simple and general pathway to TMSs and TMPsbased materials, but also enables excellent OER performance to be achieved.Electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction (OER) has great significance for energy storage and conversion technology owing to its low energy consumption, clean and environmentally friendly process. [1][2][3] The key for OER is developing highly efficient electrocatalysts. Although noble metal-based catalysts show excellent activity, the high cost and low abundance hinder their widespread application.…”