Bifunctional metal phosphide FeMnP films from single source metal organic chemical vapor deposition for efficient overall water splitting

• Published in: Nano energy Vol. 39; no. C; pp. 444 - 453
• Main Authors: Zhao, Zhenhuan, Schipper, Desmond E., Leitner, Andrew P., Thirumalai, Hari, Chen, Jing-Han, Xie, Lixin, Qin, Fan, Alam, Md Kamrul, Grabow, Lars C., Chen, Shuo, Wang, Dezhi, Ren, Zhifeng, Wang, Zhiming, Whitmire, Kenton H., Bao, Jiming
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Ltd 01.09.2017; Elsevier
• Subjects: Bifunctional electrocatalyst; CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; ENGINEERING; FeMnP; MATERIALS SCIENCE; MOCVD; Overall water splitting; Bifunctional electrocatalyst; FeMnP; Overall water splitting; MOCVD
• ISSN: 2211-2855
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2017.07.027

Developing stable and efficient bifunctional catalysts for overall water splitting into hydrogen and oxygen is a critical step in the realization of several clean-energy technologies. Here we report a robust and highly active electrocatalyst that is constructed by deposition of the ternary metal phosphide FeMnP onto graphene-protected nickel foam by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition from a single source precursor. FeMnP exhibits high electrocatalytic activity toward both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Utilizing FeMnP/GNF as both the anode and the cathode for overall water splitting, a current density of 10mAcm−2 is achieved at a cell voltage of as low as 1.55V with excellent stability. Complementary density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggest that facets exposing both Fe and Mn sites are necessary to achieve high HER activity. The present work provides a facile strategy for fabricating highly efficient electrocatalysts from earth-abundant materials for overall water splitting. [Display omitted] •FeMnP was grown on Ni foam or graphene-wrapped Ni foam by MOCVD.•Films were grown using the single-source molecular precursor FeMn(CO)8(μ-PH(μ-PH2).•The films are an efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst for water splitting.•FeMnP/graphene/Ni foam achieved a current density of 10mAcm−2 at 1.55V for overall water splitting.•DFT investigation supports the outstanding electrocatalytic activity of FeMnP.