Urea oxidation reaction (UOR) represents a promising way to harvest renewable energy from wastewater. However, owing to the sluggish UOR kinetics, its potential for practical use has not been unlocked. Ni is one of the most efficient active sites for triggering UOR; however, it is hard to achieve higher activity and stability with only the Ni site. Herein, the porous bimetallic Ni2P-Co2P heterojunction nanosheets are in-situ grown on a nickel foam via a mild solvothermal method with post-phosphating treatment. As an integrated electrode for the UOR, the optimized Ni2P-Co2P achieved remarkable electrocatalytic performance due to the enhanced intrinsic conductivity and increased concentration of the active sites. In particular, benefiting from the strong electronic interactions between the gradual exposure of active NiOOH-CoOOH shell and metal phosphide core and high conductive Ni foam substrate promote the electrocatalytic process by significantly improving the electrochemical interface properties. Moreover, the superhydrophilic/superaerophobic characteristics of the electrode guarantee intimate contact with the electrolyte and accelerate the timely removal of the gaseous product during the electrocatalytic process. Thus, the optimal catalyst displays good UOR activity (10/500 mA cm−2 at 1.27/1.58 V vs. RHE) and excellent durability (&gt; 100 h). These findings provide a deep understanding of the surface restructuration behaviors of Ni-based catalysts toward rational design and make a significant step forward in obtaining massive energy-saving hydrogen by urea electrolysis at a large current density.

Controllable synthesis of porous nickel-cobalt bimetallic phosphide nanosheets for stable urea electrolysis at high current

Fall 2022 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch in mid-September.

ACS Fall 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.