Modulating Interfacial Charge Density of NiP₂–FeP₂ via Coupling with Metallic Cu for Accelerating Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution

Abstract

Exploring earth-abundant electrocatalysts with Pt-like performance toward alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is extremely desirable for the hydrogen economy but remains challenging. Herein, density functional theory (DFT) predictions reveal that the electronic structure and localized charge density at the heterointerface of NiP2–FeP2 can be significantly modulated upon coupling with metallic Cu, resulting in optimized proton adsorption energy and reduced barrier for water dissociation, synergistically boosting alkaline HER. Motivated by theoretical predictions, we developed a facile strategy to fabricate interface-rich NiP2–FeP2 coupled with Cu nanowires (CuNW) grown on Cu foam (NiP2–FeP2/CuNW/Cuf). Benefiting from the superior intrinsic activity, conductivity, and copious active sites, the obtained catalyst exhibited exceptional alkaline HER activity requiring a low overpotential of 23.6 mV at −10 mA/cm2, surpassing the state-of-the-art Pt. Additionally, a full electrolyzer required a cell voltage of 1.42/1.4 V at 10 mA/cm2 in alkaline water/seawater with promising stability. This work highlights a design principle for advanced HER catalysts and beyond.

Phase-selective active sites on ordered/disordered titanium dioxide enable exceptional photocatalytic ammonia synthesis

“…3b ). 33 It is interesting to note that in the absence of IPA, Na-A d /R o also showed a reasonable NH 3 production rate of 327 μmol g −1 h −1 along with oxygen (O 2 ) generation as confirmed by GC-TCD (Fig. S13a and b † ), with a stoichiometric ratio of NH 3 to O 2 (2 : 1.5), N 2 + 3H 2 O → 2NH 3 + 3/2O 2 , suggesting that the photogenerated holes are efficiently consumed via the water oxidation process.…”

“…3b). 33 It is interesting to note that in the absence of IPA, Na-A d /R o also showed a reasonable NH 3 production rate of 327 mmol g À1 h À1 along with oxygen (O 2 ) generation as conrmed by GC-TCD (Fig. S13a and b , conrming the superior intrinsic activity for the former (Fig.…”

Metal telluride-nitride electrocatalysts for sustainably overall seawater electrolysis

“…Compared with recently reported overall electrolysis performances (Figure 5d), the as-constructed couple could be an ideal candidate for e cient hydrogen production. 8,13,[50][51][52][53][54][55][56] The electrocatalytic performance of NiFeN-NiTe || NiCoN-NiTe in further high temperature testing (60℃) shows signi cantly improved catalytic activity, demonstrating the positive response of reactivity activity to temperature changes, while also suggesting a new direction for heat utilization (Figure S19). A self-installed solar-powered system was assembled with an output voltage of 1.9 V (Figure S20a and Video S1) and actuated by a wind-powered system at about 1.7 V (Figure S20b and Video S2).…”

In situ establishment of Co/MoS2 heterostructures onto inverse opal‐structured N,S‐doped carbon hollow nanospheres: Interfacial and architectural dual engineering for efficient hydrogen evolution reaction

“…[13][14][15][16][17] Over the past several years, tremendous efforts have been continuously devoted to the development of economical, active, and stable earth-abundant HER catalysts, including transition metals (such as Mo, W, Ni, Co, and Fe) and their compounds, spanning from alloys, carbide, nitride, phosphides, to chalcogenides, and so forth. [18][19][20][21][22][23] Among these miscellaneous candidates, molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) is a typical 2D layered material composed of S-Mo-S layers that are held together by weak van der Waals forces. It has been well recognized as an attractive nonprecious HER electrocatalyst on account of several fascinating characteristics, for example, easy availability, eco-friendliness, and moderate binding free energy with hydrogen.…”