Iron Cobalt Phosphonate Derived Heteroatom Doped Metal Oxides as Superior Electrocatalysts for Water Oxidation Reaction

Abstract The development of low cost‐effective and highly efficient heterogeneous electrocatalysts is most appreciable in the research community. A newly designed microporous organic‐inorganic hybrid iron cobalt phosphonate (FeCoDPAM) is synthesized using diphenylphosphinamide as an organophosphorus ligand through a hydrothermal pathway without any template. To synthesize N, P‐codoped bimetallic oxides (NP/FeCoO350, NP/FeCoO550, and NP/FeCoO750), the as‐synthesized material FeCoDPAM has undergone pyrolysis at three different temperatures, i. e ., 350, 550, 750 °C, respectively. The high specific surface area and a regular microporous array of N, P‐codoped iron cobalt oxide (NP/FeCoO350) material provide excellent oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity. The NP/FeCoO350 material catalyzes OER with the overpotential of 331 mV at a current density of 10 mAcm −2 and Tafel slope of 56.7 mV dec −1 in 1.0 M KOH solution. The inclusion of iron in the cobalt phosphonate framework can change the electronic structure, and electron transfer can be feasible to the d ‐orbital of cobalt. Due to the doping of heteroatoms such as N and P into the bimetallic oxide matrix, a synergistic effect can occur, which is the driving force for the efficient electrocatalytic OER activity. Also, the FeCoO350 displays stability with outstanding oxidative current up to 50 h time in chronoamperometry measurement.