The exploration of earth‐abundant and high‐efficiency bifunctional electrocatalysts for overall water splitting is of vital importance for the future of the hydrogen economy. Regulation of electronic structure through heteroatom doping represents one of the most powerful strategies to boost the electrocatalytic performance of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, a rational design of O‐incorporated CoP (denoted as O‐CoP) nanosheets, which synergistically integrate the favorable thermodynamics through modification of electronic structures with accelerated kinetics through nanostructuring, is reported. Experimental results and density functional theory simulations manifest that the appropriate O incorporation into CoP can dramatically modulate the electronic structure of CoP and alter the adsorption free energies of reaction intermediates, thus promoting the HER and OER activities. Specifically, the optimized O‐CoP nanosheets exhibit efficient bifunctional performance in alkaline electrolyte, requiring overpotentials of 98 and 310 mV to deliver a current density of 10 mA cm−2 for HER and OER, respectively. When served as bifunctional electrocatalysts for overall water splitting, a low cell voltage of 1.60 V is needed for achieving a current density of 10 mA cm−2. This proposed anion‐doping strategy will bring new inspiration to boost the electrocatalytic performance of transition metal–based electrocatalysts for energy conversion applications.

No abstract

A universal synthesis approach has been proposed to produce a series of well-defined Pd–pm (pm = Ga, In, Sn, Pb, Bi) alloy nanosheet assemblies.

Searching for high‐efficiency nonprecious bifunctional electrocatalysts for both hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is paramount for the advancement of water electrolysis technologies and the associated renewable energy devices. Modulation of electronic structure of an electrocatalyst via heterointerface engineering represents an efficient strategy to improve its electrocatalytic performance. Herein, a feasible hydrothermal synthesis of a novel heterostructured catalyst was demonstrated, comprising CoS2 nanocubes and vertically aligned MoS2 nanosheet arrays directly grown on flexible and conductive carbon cloth (CC) substrate (denoted as CoS2/MoS2@CC). Thanks to the elaborate interface engineering and vertically aligned nanosheet arrayed architecture, the resultant self‐supported CoS2/MoS2@CC electrode possessed enriched exposed active sites, modulated electronic configuration, multidimensional mass transport channels, and outstanding mechanical strength, thereby affording exceptional electrocatalytic performances towards the HER and OER in alkaline electrolyte with overpotentials of 71 and 274 mV at 10 mA cm−2, respectively. In addition, a two‐electrode electrolyzer assembled by CoS2/MoS2@CC required a cell voltage of 1.59 V at 10 mA cm−2 with nearly 100 % faradaic efficiency and remarkable durability, showing great potential for scalable and economical water electrolysis.

No abstract