Preparation of Co/V bimetallic phosphide derived from MOFs and its application in electrocatalytic water decomposition

Rational design and development of electrocatalysts with low cost, abundant reserves, high efficiency and high stability are of great significance to the development of hydrogen economy. In this work, MOFs-derived Co/V phosphide bifunctional electrocatalysts (Co2VP-MOF@NF) are successfully fabricated on the nickel foam (NF) substrate. Due to the rich heterogeneous interface produced by in-situ phosphorization of CoV-MOF@NF and the large number of defects produced by alkali etching, the Co2VP-MOF@NF exhibits excellent electrocatalytic activity. The overpotential for HER (hydrogen evolution reaction) and OER (oxygen evolution reaction) is 80 mV and 265 mV at 10 mA cm−2, respectively. More importantly, only a decomposition voltage of 1.51 V is needed at 10 mA cm−2, and the electrolyser completed relatively conspicuous durability, maintaining the initial current density through 24 h persistent work. The methods of in situ phosphorization to form heterogeneous interfaces and alkali etching to form defects provide a reasonable strategy for the preparation of highly active electrocatalysts with excellent electrocatalytic performance.