“Core–Shell ZIF-8@ZIF-67-Derived CoP Nanoparticle-Embedded N-Doped Carbon Nanotube Hollow Polyhedron for Efficient Overall Water Splitting” (2018), by Yuan Pan et al. Energy research paper. Original abstract below, unchanged. No free PDF was found.

Core–Shell ZIF-8@ZIF-67-Derived CoP Nanoparticle-Embedded N-Doped Carbon Nanotube Hollow Polyhedron for Efficient Overall Water Splitting

Yuan Pan, Kaian Sun, Shoujie Liu et al. · January 17, 2018 · Energy

Abstract

The construction of highly active and stable non-noble-metal electrocatalysts for hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions is a major challenge for overall water splitting. Herein, we report a novel hybrid nanostructure with CoP nanoparticles (NPs) embedded in a N-doped carbon nanotube hollow polyhedron (NCNHP) through a pyrolysis–oxidation–phosphidation strategy derived from core–shell ZIF-8@ZIF-67. Benefiting from the synergistic effects between highly active CoP NPs and NCNHP, the CoP/NCNHP hybrid exhibited outstanding bifunctional electrocatalytic performances. When the CoP/NCNHP was employed as both the anode and cathode for overall water splitting, a potential as low as 1.64 V was needed to achieve the current density of 10 mA·cm –2, and it still exhibited superior activity after continuously working for 36 h with nearly negligible decay in potential. Density functional theory calculations indicated that the electron transfer from NCNHP to CoP could increase the electronic states of the Co d -orbital around the Fermi level, which could increase the binding strength with H and therefore improve the electrocatalytic performance. The strong stability is attributed to high oxidation resistance of the CoP surface protected by the NCNHP.

Source page DOI: 10.1021/jacs.7b12420