Plasma-assisted seconds-level-impregnated preparation of bifunctional N-doped NiCoP with O vacancies enhancement: Driving efficient water splitting

Abstract

Improving water splitting efficiency of low-cost catalysts is one key to promoting energy-efficient and environmentally friendly hydrogen production. Herein, we propose a rational strategy to construct cross-linked N-doped NiCoP nanostructure with elevated catalytic active sites. The O vacancies from two sources of vacuum annealing and plasma treatment can not only facilitate M−P binding but also enable in situ doping of N atoms, thus benefiting the capture of protons. Density function theory (DFT) calculation further reveals that N doping can play a key role in modulating the electronic structure and lowering the reaction barriers. As expected, the optimized N-NiCoP-ov11 requires a cell voltage of 1.53 V to deliver 10 mA cm−2 current density for overall water splitting with satisfactory stability. This work provides a feasible strategy to combine efficient catalysis and low cost for overall water splitting.