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Research Article

A self-supported heterogeneous bimetallic phosphide array electrode enables efficient hydrogen evolution from saline water splitting

Jingwen Li1,§, Min Song1,§, Yezhou Hu2, Chang Zhang1, Wei Liu1, Xiao Huang1, Jingjing Zhang1, Ye Zhu2, Jian Zhang1(), Deli Wang1()
Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Storage (Huazhong University of Science and Technology), Ministry of Education, Hubei Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry and Service Failure, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
Department of Applied Physics, Research Institute for Smart Energy, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hongkong 999077, China

§ Jingwen Li and Min Song contributed equally to this work.

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Graphical Abstract

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Benefiting from the good erosion-resisting of heterogeneous bimetallic phosphide nanoarrays and the self-supported architecture, the obtained electrode (Ni2P-FeP/FF) exhibits excellent hydrogen evolution performance in alkaline saline water with an overpotential of 89 mV at 10 mA·cm−2 and long-term stability over 90 h at 200 mA·cm−2.

Abstract

Hydrogen generation from water splitting is of great prospect for the sustainable energy conversion. However, it is still challenging to explore stable and high-performance electrocatalysts toward hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) from saline water such as seawater due to the chloride corrosion. Herein, we developed a self-supported heterogeneous bimetallic phosphide (Ni2P-FeP) array electrode that possesses excellent HER performance in alkaline saline water with an overpotential of 89 mV at 10 mA·cm−2 and long-term stability over 90 h at 200 mA·cm−2. The analysis showed that the heterostructure between the interfaces of Ni2P-FeP plays a pivotal role in promoting the activity of catalyst. Moreover, the bimetallic phosphide nanoarrays can be employed as a shield for chlorine-corrosion resistance in the saline water, ensuring the long-term durability of hydrogen generation. When employed for alkaline saline water electrolysis, a current density of 100 mA·cm−2 is achieved at cell voltage of 1.68 V. This work presents an effective approach for the fabrication of high-performance electrode for HER in alkaline saline environments.

Keywords

saline water splittinghydrogen evolution reactionbimetallic phosphideschlorine-corrosion resistance

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Nano Research
Volume 16 Issue 3,
March 2023
Pages 3658-3664
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-022-4608-8
Cite this article:
Li J, Song M, Hu Y, et al. A self-supported heterogeneous bimetallic phosphide array electrode enables efficient hydrogen evolution from saline water splitting. Nano Research, 2023, 16(3): 3658-3664. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4608-8
Topics:
Hydrogen evolution reaction
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