Issue 6, 2020

Phosphine vapor-assisted construction of heterostructured Ni2P/NiTe2 catalysts for efficient hydrogen evolution

Abstract

Heterostructured catalysts with unique interfaces and properties endow distinct advantages for many electrochemical reactions. Herein, a phosphine (PH3) vapor-assisted phase and structure engineering strategy is developed for the controllable conversion of non-active NiTe into a heterostructured active Ni2P/NiTe2 catalyst for alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The crystalline NiTe2 phase in situ generated in a PH3 vapor environment and the nanosheet morphology both contribute to the outstanding alkaline HER performance with an overpotential of only 62 mV to achieve a current density of −10 mA cm−2. Experimental and DFT mechanistic studies suggest the Ni2P/NiTe2 interfaces provide abundant exposed active sites. The Ni2P/NiTe2 catalyst shows the lowest kinetic barrier for water dissociation and the adsorbed H* can simultaneously bind to two Ni atoms at the interface of Ni2P/NiTe2(011), which greatly enhances the H* binding and HER activities. DFT simulation also shows that more electrons transfer from Ni atoms to H* on Ni2P/NiTe2(011) (0.22 e) than that on NiTe2(011) (0.13 e), which explains the enhanced H* binding at the Ni2P/NiTe2(011) interface. The PH3 vapor synthetic approach is also applied to treat other chalcogenide-based materials with low HER activities, such as Ni3S2, to create Ni2P/NiS2 interfaces for significantly enhanced HER activity.

Graphical abstract: Phosphine vapor-assisted construction of heterostructured Ni2P/NiTe2 catalysts for efficient hydrogen evolution

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
03 Mar 2020
Accepted
11 May 2020
First published
12 May 2020

Energy Environ. Sci., 2020,13, 1799-1807

Phosphine vapor-assisted construction of heterostructured Ni2P/NiTe2 catalysts for efficient hydrogen evolution

Y. Li, X. Tan, H. Tan, H. Ren, S. Chen, W. Yang, S. C. Smith and C. Zhao, Energy Environ. Sci., 2020, 13, 1799 DOI: 10.1039/D0EE00666A

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