Co2(P4O12)/CoSe2 heterostructures grown on carbon nanofibers as an efficient electrocatalysts for water splitting

Abstract

The utilization of efficient and pollution-free water splitting hydrogen production technology is of great significance for alleviating environmental problems and achieving sustainable human development. The prospect of exploring highly efficient electrocatalytic activity, low-cost, and high-stability catalysts is vast, but there are still huge challenges. In this work, ZIF-67 derived Co2(P4O12) and CoSe2 heterostructures (Co2(P4O12)/CoSe2/CNFs) loaded on carbon nanofibers have been constructed using a combination of in-situ growth method via electrostatic spinning technique. The Co2(P4O12)/CoSe2/CNFs composite catalyst exhibited the highest oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity (315 mV) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity (221 mV) at a current density of 10 mA cm-2. After stability tests, the current density retention rates for OER and HER are 96.1% and 85.6%, respectively. The combination of Co2(P4O12)/CoSe2/CNFs-2 was employed in a water electrolysis system, resulting in the attainment of a current density of 10 mA cm-2 at a cell voltage of only 1.71 V. This paper provides a new idea for exploring bifunctional catalysts for water electrolysis, which has good prospects for development.