Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-17-2024

Abstract

Hydrogen is considered as one of the most efficient and green fuels. Hydrogen can be produced via water water-splitting process, however, an efficient electrocatalyst is required to make this process cost-effective. In this work, a transition metal-based electrocatalyst was designed to reduce the overpotential and increase the efficiency of the water-splitting process. The performance of the electrocatalyst is found to be largely dependent on its structure, phase, morphology, electronic environment, and number of active sites. The phase and morphology of iron oxide (Fe3O4@Ni-Foam) were tuned by sulfurization and phosphorylation to produce FeS and FeP, respectively. The synthesized electrocatalysts were characterized using structural and electrochemical testing processes. FeS and FeP showed nanoflower and nanoneedles-like morphologies, respectively. During electrochemical studies, FeP was shown to be the most effective electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution process (OER), the urea oxidation reaction (UOR), and seawater electrolysis. The overpotentials observed for OER, UOR, and seawater splitting were significantly reduced when using FeP as compared to other materials, with values of 207 mV, 133 mV, and 287.1 mV, respectively, at a current density of 10 mA/cm2. The enhanced catalytic activity of FeP over FeS and Fe3O4 could be attributed to morphological changes, improved electronic conductivity, and exceptional endurance. This work suggests that sulfurization and phosphorylation of transition metal oxide/hydroxide can tune the morphology and electrochemical properties and thus can improve the electrocatalytic activity of transition metal-based nanomaterials.

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