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Research Article

Enhancing electrical conductivity of single-atom doped Co3O4 nanosheet arrays at grain boundary by phosphor doping strategy for efficient water splitting

Yaohang Gu1,§, Xuanyu Wang1,§, Ateer Bao1, Liang Dong3,4, Xiaoyan Zhang1,3,4, Haijun Pan3( ), Wenquan Cui5( ), Xiwei Qi2( )
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110189, China
College of Metallurgy and Energy, North China of Science and Technology, Tangshan 063210, China
School of Resources and Materials, Northeastern University at Qinhuangdao, Qinhuangdao 066004, China
Key Laboratory of Dielectric and Electrolyte Functional Material Hebei Province, Northeastern University at Qinhuangdao, Qinhuangdao 066004, China
College of Chemical Engineering, Hebei Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Photocatalytic and Electrocatalytic Materials, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan 063210, China

§ Yaohang Gu and Xuanyu Wang contributed equally to this work.

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Graphical Abstract

A phosphor doped single atom with Co3O4 supported bifunctional electrocatalyst was fabricated (P-doped Rh SAC-Co3O4). P-doped Rh SAC-Co3O4 requires only 1.77 V to reach the current density of 50 mA·cm−2 for overall water splitting. The phosphor doping strategy increased the electrical conductivity with almost 2 orders of magnitude. The grain boundary is the main conductive area for P-doped Rh SAC-Co3O4 where the elevated conductivity originates.

Abstract

High electrical conductivity guarantees a rapid electron transfer and thus plays an important role in electrocatalysis. In particular, for the single atom catalysts (SACs), to facilitate interaction between the single atom and supports, precisely engineering the conductivity represents a promising strategy to design SACs with high electrochemical efficiency. Here we show rhodium (Rh) SAC anchored on Co3O4 nanosheets arrays on nickel foam (NF), which is modified by a facile phosphorus (P-doped Rh SAC-Co3O4/NF), possessing an appropriate electronic structure and high conductivity for electrocatalytic reaction. With the introduction of P atom in the lattice, the electrocatalyst demonstrates outstanding alkaline oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity with 50 mA·cm−2 under overpotential of 268 mV, 6 times higher than that of Ir/C/NF. More interestingly, the P-doped Rh SAC-Co3O4/NF can get 50 mA·cm−2 at only 1.77 V for overall water splitting. Both electrical conductivity studies and density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the high conductivity at grain boundary improves the charge transfer efficiency of the Rh catalytic center. Furthermore, other noble-metal (Ir, Pd, and Ru) doped Co3O4 nanosheets arrays are prepared to exhibit the general efficacy of the phosphorus doping strategy.

Keywords

overall water splittingelectrical conductivitysingle atom electrocatalystphosphor doping strategy

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Nano Research
Volume 15 Issue 10,
October 2022
Pages 9511-9519
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-022-4738-z
Cite this article:
Gu Y, Wang X, Bao A, et al. Enhancing electrical conductivity of single-atom doped Co3O4 nanosheet arrays at grain boundary by phosphor doping strategy for efficient water splitting. Nano Research, 2022, 15(10): 9511-9519. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4738-z
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Received: 13 June 2022
Accepted: 02 July 2022
Published: 03 August 2022
© Tsinghua University Press 2022
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