Carbon-based iron-cobalt phosphate FeCoP/C as an effective ORR/OER/HER trifunctional electrocatalyst

Efficient catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are of paramount importance for electrochemical energy applications. Herein, a high-efficient carbon-based trifunctional electrocatalyst FeCoP/C is synthesized through a simple one-step supramolecular-assisted method, in which a supramolecular gel structure is formed by phosphoric acid and melamine to allow the efficient and homogeneous incorporation of highly active species. Experimentally, the as-obtained catalysts exhibit practical trifunctional activities in the ORR, OER, and HER. In alkaline electrolytes, requiring overpotentials of 95 and 282 mV to deliver a current density of 10 mA cm−2 for HER and OER, respectively, and presents the significantly increased alkalic ORR activity, with the half-wave potential of 0.849 V. Furthermore, the FeCoP/C also showed good integrated capabilities for Zn-air batteries. This supramolecular-assisted strategy could bring new inspiration to boost the electrocatalytic performance of transition metal-based electrocatalysts for energy conversion applications.