Phosphorous, boron and sulphur-doped silver tungstate-based nanomaterials toward electrochemical methanol oxidation and water splitting energy applications

Abstract

We employed a one-step precipitation approach to produce B, P, and S-doped Ag2WO4 (AgW) with the aid of a cetyltrimethylammonium bromide template in order to develop novel catalytic materials with components and architectures that tolerate harsh conditions. The P@AgW with the spherical (13.7 nm) shape was found to possess the greatest electrocatalytic activity for the oxidation of methanol in an acidic environment. It provides remarkable performance with an overpotential of 0.58 V (at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 comprised of mass activity of 1172 mA g−1) and considerable long-term reliability. This is attributed to the intense increase in the β-Ag2WO4/α-Ag2WO4 ratio (4:1), the formation of Ag–O–P, the highest electrochemical surface area, and the ease of charge transfer. The B@AgW electrode of polymorphic structure, on the other hand, performed the best for water electrolysis in the basic medium (1.0 M KOH). It produces an OER at overpotentials of 50 mA cm−2 at 0.42 V and 399 mV at 10 mA cm−2. At 10 mA cm−2, the HER overpotential was 0.33 V. Additionally, the B@AgW electrolyzer shows a cell voltage of 1.44 V for overall water splitting, which is lower than that of P@AgW (1.56 V), and it demonstrates great durability for 20 h. The notably higher activity of B@AgW compared to other electrolyzers is due to improved electrical conductivity, transport of mass, more active sites, and reduced particle size (7.2 nm). This work offers a simple way for the large-scale manufacture of electrocatalysts with considerable activity and reliability over time.