Hierarchical structured CoP nanosheets/carbon nanofibers bifunctional eletrocatalyst for high-efficient overall water splitting

The design of efficient, stable, and economical electrocatalysts for oxygen and hydrogen evolution reaction (OER and HER) is a major challenge for overall water splitting. Herein, a hierarchical structured CoP/carbon nanofibers (CNFs) composite was successfully synthesized and its potential application as a high-efficiency bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall splitting water was evaluated. The synergetic effect of two-dimensional (2D) CoP nanosheets and one-dimensional (1D) CNFs endowed the CoP/CNFs composites with abundant active sites and rapid electron and mass transport pathways, and thereby significantly improved the electrocatalytic performances. The optimized CoP/CNFs delivered a current density of 10 mA cm−2 at low overpotential of 325 mV for OER and 225 mV for HER. In the overall water splitting, CoP/CNFs achieved a low potential of 1.65 V at 10 mA cm−2. The facile strategy provided in the present work can facilitate the design and development of multifunctional non-noble metal catalysts for energy applications.