General Synthesis of Multishell Mixed‐Metal Oxyphosphide Particles with Enhanced Electrocatalytic Activity in the Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Abstract We report a general approach for the synthesis of multishell mixed‐metal oxyphosphide particles. Seven‐layer Mn‐Co oxide particles were first prepared by thermal treatment of Mn‐Co coordination polymer precursors. Afterwards, these multishell Mn‐Co oxide particles were further transformed into multishell Mn‐Co oxyphosphide particles through a phosphidation reaction. This approach is very versatile and can be applied to synthesize other multishell mixed‐metal oxyphosphide particles with different compositions. By applying a constant electrochemical potential, these multishell Mn‐Co oxyphosphide particles can be activated to produce Mn‐Co oxide/hydroxide species in their nanoshells and then show greatly enhanced electrocatalytic activity in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER).