Electrocatalyst based on Ni2P nanoparticles and NiCoP nanosheets for efficient hydrogen evolution from urea wastewater

Yutai Wu; Hui Wang; Jianwei Ren; Xiao Xu; Xuyun Wang; Rongfang Wang

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2021.11.022

Electrocatalyst based on Ni₂P nanoparticles and NiCoP nanosheets for efficient hydrogen evolution from urea wastewater

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2022 Feb 15;608(Pt 3):2932-2941. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.11.022. Epub 2021 Nov 11.

Authors

Yutai Wu¹, Hui Wang², Jianwei Ren³, Xiao Xu¹, Xuyun Wang¹, Rongfang Wang⁴

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory Base for Eco-Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, China.
² State Key Laboratory Base for Eco-Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Electronic Functional Materials and Devices, Huizhou University, Huizhou 516001, China. Electronic address: wangh@qust.edu.cn.
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering Science, University of Johannesburg, Cnr Kingsway and University Roads, Auckland Park, Johannesburg 2092, South Africa.
⁴ State Key Laboratory Base for Eco-Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, China. Electronic address: rfwang@qust.edu.cn.

PMID: 34801236
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.11.022

Abstract

Urea electrolysis is a promising approach to produce hydrogen while simultaneously purifying urea-rich wastewater. In practice, it is highly desirable but still challenging, through the structure construction strategy, to implement a method with controllable synthesis of ultra-thin nanosheet arrays with rich interfaces, and then apply them into the catalysis operations of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and urea oxidation reaction (UOR). In this work, the bifunctional electrocatalyst Ni₂P/NiCoP nanosheets anchored nickel foam (NF) were prepared with ultra-thin rich interfaces by regulating the Co- and P-doping. The results showed that the elaborated Ni₂P/NiCoP/NF electrode delivered the excellent electrocatalytic activities for both UOR and HER operations. Particularly for UOR, it required only a cell voltage of 1.41 V at 100 mA cm^-2, which was 400 mV lower than that in the traditional overall water splitting operation.

Keywords: Bifunctional catalyst; Heterostructures; Kirkendall effect; Rich Interfaces; Urea oxidation reaction.

MeSH terms

Hydrogen*
Nanoparticles*
Nickel
Urea
Wastewater

Substances

Waste Water
Nickel
Hydrogen
Urea