Tungsten promoted nickel phosphide nanosheets supported on carbon cloth: An efficient and stable bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting

Abstract

It is of great significance to develop a highly active, durable and inexpensive bifunctional electrocatalyst for both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, we report a tungsten-doped nickel phosphide nanosheets based on carbon cloth (W–Ni2P NS/CC) as an efficient bifunctional catalyst through simple hydrothermal and phosphorization for overall water splitting in 1 M KOH. The W–Ni2P NS/CC exhibits excellent electrochemical performance with low overpotentials for HER (η10 = 71 mV, η50 = 160 mV) and OER (η20 = 307 mV, η50 = 382 mV) in 1 M KOH, as well as superior long-term stability. Moreover, W–Ni2P NS/CC as a bifunctional catalyst reveals remarkable activity with a low voltage of 1.55 V to reach a current density of 20 mA cm−2. This work provides a viable bifunctional catalyst for the overall water splitting.