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Porous rod-like Ni2P/Ni assemblies for enhanced urea electrooxidation

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Abstract

The urea oxidation reaction has attracted increasing attention. Here, porous rod-like Ni2P/Ni assemblies, which consist of numerous nanoparticle subunits with matching interfaces at the nanoscale have been synthesized via a simple phosphating approach. Density functional theory calculations and density of states indicate that porous rod-like Ni2P/Ni assemblies can significantly enhance the activity of chemical bonds and the conductivity compared with NiO/Ni toward the urea oxidation reaction. The optimal catalyst of Ni2P/Ni can deliver a low overpotential of 50 mV at 10 mA·cm−2 and Tafel slope of 87.6 mV·dec−1 in urea oxidation reaction. Moreover, the constructed electrolytic cell exhibits a current density of 10 mA·cm−2 at a cell voltage of 1.47 V and an outstanding durability in the two-electrode system. This work has provided a new possibility to fabricate metal phosphides-metal assemblies with advanced performance.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. U1904215 and 21671170), the Top-notch Academic Programs Project of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (TAPP), and Qinglan Project of Jiangsu and Program for Colleges Natural Science Research in Jiangsu Province (No. 18KJB150036). We also acknowledge the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225009, China

    Qing Li, Xinran Li, Jiawei Gu & Huan Pang

  2. Guangling College, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225009, China

    Qing Li

  3. Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, 315201, China

    Yanle Li & Ziqi Tian

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  1. Qing Li
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Li, Q., Li, X., Gu, J. et al. Porous rod-like Ni2P/Ni assemblies for enhanced urea electrooxidation. Nano Res. 14, 1405–1412 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-020-3190-1

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