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Co3O4/stainless steel catalyst with synergistic effect of oxygen vacancies and phosphorus doping for overall water splitting

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Abstract

The electrolysis of water into hydrogen and oxygen provides an effective means of storing electrical energy indirectly. The current challenge is to design an optimal catalyst that exhibits low overpotentials, long-term stability, universal availability, and only uses inexpensive materials. Herein, a Co3O4 nanoflower/stainless steel (P-Ov-Co3O4/SS) catalyst with both oxygen vacancies (Ovs) and phosphorus doping was perfectly prepared via a simple three-step method. The Ovs promoted charge transfer and accelerated the electrocatalysis, while P finely tuned the surface charge state. This resulted in numerous active sites for catalysis, and the synergistic effect of phosphorus doping and oxygen vacancies was finely demonstrated. The resultant electrocatalyst exhibited low hydrogen evolution overpotentials of 118 mV (− 10 mA·cm−2) and 242 (− 200 mA·cm−2), as well as oxygen evolution overpotentials of 327 mV (100 mA·cm−2) and 370 mV (200 mA·cm−2), owing to the excellent synergistic effect of the Ovs and low-temperature phosphating. Moreover, P-Ov-Co3O4/SS//P-Ov-Co3O4/SS exhibited a low water splitting voltage of 1.681 V at 20 mA·cm−2. These findings will enable the synthesis of novel high-performance electrocatalysts for overall water splitting.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22065015), Key Research Program of Jiangxi Province of China (20202BBEL53023) and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province (Grant Nos. 20212BAB203015 and 20212BCJL23053).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Rare Earth, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Ganzhou, 341000, China

    Xiao-Xiao Li, Xiao-Chao Liu, Chao Liu, Jin-Ming Zeng & Xiao-Peng Qi

  2. Faculty of Materials Metallurgy and Chemistry, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Ganzhou, 341000, China

    Xiao-Xiao Li, Xiao-Chao Liu, Chao Liu, Jin-Ming Zeng & Xiao-Peng Qi

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  1. Xiao-Xiao Li
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Li, XX., Liu, XC., Liu, C. et al. Co3O4/stainless steel catalyst with synergistic effect of oxygen vacancies and phosphorus doping for overall water splitting. Tungsten 5, 100–108 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42864-022-00144-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42864-022-00144-7

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