Ni2P/Co2P as a highly efficient catalyst for enhancing the electrochemical performance of P-NiMoO4 for oxygen evolution reaction

A growing trend in electrocatalysis is to explore interfacial interactions and surface intermediate adsorption in highly efficient bimetallic phosphide catalysts for developing efficient oxygen evolution reactions (OER). In this work, Ni2P and Co2P nanoparticles (NPs) were distributed on P-modified NiMoO4 nanorods prepared by the hydrothermal procedure, which exhibited high catalytic activity and outstanding durability for the OER. By regulating the high interfacial contact between Ni2P, Co2P, and P-NiMoO4, the Ni2P and Co2P NPs reduced the electron density, thus optimizing the OER. Compared to the NiMoO4 NRs, the P-NiMoO4@Ni2P/Co2P electrocatalyst showed remarkable activity towards the OER owing to the strong electron interaction and synergistic effect among the three components. Consequently, the P-NiMoO4@Ni2P/Co2P electrode yielded significant OER activity, with an overpotential of 260 mV, a Tafel slope of 41 mV/dec, and 92.9% Faradaic efficiency. Furthermore, the P-NiMoO4@Ni2P/Co2P electrocatalyst demonstrated excellent stability (up to 50 h) for the OER, which was higher than those of the NiMoO4-based catalysts reported in the literature. Several factors contribute to the excellent OER activity, including electron transfer between Ni2P, Co2P, and P-NiMoO4, and the abundant active sites generated from their interfacial interactions. Therefore, this study presents a novel approach for developing highly efficient ternary electrocatalysts for the long-term electrocatalytic evolution of oxygen.