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Fabrication of triangular Cu3P nanorods on Cu nanosheets as electrocatalyst for boosted electrocatalytic water splitting

铜纳米片表面磷化铜三角纳米柱的构筑及其电催化分解水研究

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Abstract

Non-precious electro catalysts with high-efficiency, cheapness and stablility are of great significance to replace noble metal electro catalysts in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). In this work, triangular Cu@CuO nanorods on Cu nanosheets were fabricated by a novel in-situ oxidation approach using Cu nanosheets as self-template and conductive nano-substrate in an aqueous solution of NaOH/H2O2, and then by low-temperature phosphorization treatments. The experimental results show that the phosphating temperature has a significant effect on the morphology, composition and number of active sites of Cu@Cu3P nanorods. The Cu@Cu3P-280 electrode exhibits a good HER catalytic activity of achieving a current density of 10 mA/cm2 at 252 mV in acid electrolyte. After catalysis for 14 h, the current density can still reach 72% of the initial value. Moreover, the Cu@Cu3P-280 electrode also shows an excellent OER catalytic activity in basic electrolyte, reaching a current density of 10 mA/cm2 at the overpotential value of 200 mV. After catalysis for 12 h, the current density remained more than 93% of the initial value. This work provides a theoretical basis for the directional design and preparation of sustainable, low-cost, bifunctional electrocatalytic materials.

摘要

开发能够取代贵金属的高效、廉价、稳定的非贵金属催化剂，对于推动电催化水裂解析氢、析氧技术的发展具有重要意义。本文以铜纳米片为模板和导电基底，H2O2为氧源，NaOH 为pH 调节剂，通过原位氧化的方法在Cu 纳米片表面构筑三角柱状结构的Cu@CuO, 再对Cu@CuO 进行低温磷化，获得三角纳米柱状Cu@Cu3P。实验结果表明，磷化温度在调节Cu@Cu3P 纳米柱阵列的形貌、组成及活性位点数量方面具有显著效果。当磷化温度为280 ℃时，可获得形貌均一、活性高的纳米三角柱状阵列结构材料(Cu@Cu3P-280)。Cu@Cu3P-280 电极在0.5 mol/L H2SO4 电解质中表现出良好的析氢催化活性，在电流密度为10 mA/cm2时，其过电位为252 mV，催化14 h 后，电流密度仍可达初始值的72%。Cu@Cu3P-280 电极在1 mol/L KOH 电解质中也展现出优异的催化析氧活性，当电流密度为10 mA/cm2时，其过电位仅为200 mV，催化12 h 后，电流密度保持初始值的93%。此研究为可持续、低价、双功能电催化材料的定向设计与制备提供理论基础。

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northwest Institute For Nonferrous Metal Research, Xi’an, 710016, China

    Rui Dang  (党蕊), Xiu-feng Xu  (徐秀凤) & Meng-meng Xie  (谢蒙蒙)

  2. The Faculty of Printing, Packaging Engineering and Digital Media Technology, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an, 710054, China

    Xiu-feng Xu  (徐秀凤) & Meng-meng Xie  (谢蒙蒙)

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  1. Rui Dang  (党蕊)
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Correspondence to Rui Dang  (党蕊).

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Project(21905232) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China

Contributors

DANG Rui provided the concept and edited the draft of manuscript. DANG Rui and XU Xiufeng validated the proposed method with practical experiments. XIE Meng-meng accomplished writing-review and editing. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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DANG Rui, XU Xiu-feng and XIE Mengmeng declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Dang, R., Xu, Xf. & Xie, Mm. Fabrication of triangular Cu3P nanorods on Cu nanosheets as electrocatalyst for boosted electrocatalytic water splitting. J. Cent. South Univ. 29, 3870–3883 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11771-023-5243-6

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