One-Step Synthesis of N, P-Codoped Carbon Nanosheets Encapsulated CoP Particles for Highly Efficient Oxygen Evolution Reaction

• Published in: Frontiers in chemistry Vol. 7; p. 805
• Main Authors: Liu, Yuchuan, Guan, Xu, Huang, Baobing, Wei, Qiaohua, Xie, Zailai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 09.01.2020
• Subjects: biomolecule; carbon nanosheets; Chemistry; CoP; OER; one-step strategy; biomolecule; CoP; OER; one-step strategy; carbon nanosheets
• ISSN: 2296-2646; 2296-2646
• DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2019.00805

Oxygen electrocatalysis, especially oxygen evolution reaction (OER), is a central process during the actual application of rechargeable metal-air battery. It is still challenging to develop ideal electrocatalysts to substitute the commercial noble metal-based materials. In this work, we have constructed a new material, CoP nanoparticles, which are encapsulated by a biomolecule-derived N, P-codoped carbon nanosheets via a simple and facile one-step strategy. The as-prepared material releases a high electrocatalytic activity and stability for OER, with an overpotential of 310 mV to achieve 10 mA/cm in 1 M KOH. Importantly, we found that the phosphoric acid can not only introduce phosphorus dopant into 2D N-doped carbon nanosheets and play a role of pore-forming agent, but also participate in the formation of active center (cobalt phosphide). Moreover, the coverage of N, P-doped carbon can prevent the CoP nanoparticles from corrosion under the harsh reaction medium to achieve high and stable activity. We believe that our strategy can offer a novel pathway to synthesize new transition metal-based catalysts for electrocatalysis or other heterogeneous catalysis.