Controlled Synthesis of 3D Flower‐like Ni2P Composed of Mesoporous Nanoplates for Overall Water Splitting

Abstract Developing efficient non‐noble metal and earth‐abundant electrocatalysts with tunable microstructures for overall water splitting is critical to promote clean energy technologies for a hydrogen economy. Herein, novel three‐dimensional (3D) flower‐like Ni2P composed of mesoporous nanoplates with controllable morphology and high surface area was prepared by a hydrothermal method and low‐temperature phosphidation as efficient electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Compared with the urchin‐like NixPy, the 3D flower‐like Ni2P with a diameter of 5 μm presented an efficient and stable catalytic performance in 0.5 m H2SO4, with a small Tafel slope of 79 mV dec−1 and an overpotential of about 240 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 with a mass loading density of 0.283 mg cm−2. In addition, the catalyst also exhibited a remarkable performance for the OER in 1.0 m KOH electrolyte, with an overpotential of 320 mV to reach a current density of 10 mA cm−2 and a small Tafel slope of 72 mV dec−1. The excellent catalytic performance of the as‐prepared Ni2P may be ascribed to its novel 3D morphology with unique mesoporous structure.