Phosphorus‐Doped Iron Nitride Nanoparticles Encapsulated by Nitrogen‐Doped Carbon Nanosheets on Iron Foam In Situ Derived from Saccharomycetes Cerevisiae for Electrocatalytic Overall Water Splitting

Abstract

It is vitally essential to propose a novel, economical, and safe preparation method to design highly efficient electrocatalysts. Herein, phosphorus‐doped iron nitride nanoparticles encapsulated by nitrogen‐doped carbon nanosheets are grown directly on the iron foam substrate (P‐Fe3N@NC NSs/IF) by in situ deriving from Saccharomycetes cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae), where anion elements of C, N, and P all from S. cerevisiae replace the hazardous CH4, NH3, and H3P. The diffusion pattern of N, P in S. cerevisiae and contact form between metal and S. cerevisiae observably affect the composition and phase of the product during high‐temperature calcination. The obtained P‐Fe3N@NC NSs/IF demonstrates superior electrocatalytic performance for the hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen evolution reaction, also satisfying durability. Theoretical calculation confirms that Fe sites of P‐Fe3N serve as the active center, and N sites and P doping regulate the hydrogen binding strength to enhance catalytic ability. Additionally, the two‐electrode electrolyzer assembled by P‐Fe3N@NC NSs/IF as both anode and cathode electrodes needs only 1.61 V to reach 10 mA cm−2 for overall water splitting with a superb stability. The S. cerevisiae‐based process presents a feasible approach for synthesis of nitrides, carbides, phosphides, and electrocatalytic applications.

Coupling photocatalytic water oxidation with organic reduction: strategy for using water to reduce organic molecules

“…In conclusion, we report, for the first time, that water is used as the electron donor to enable the reductive transformations of organic substances by coupling the light-induced water oxidation half-reaction with the reduction of organic compounds in the presence of Pd/g-C 3 N 4 * photocatalyst, which is different from previous literatures [44][45][46][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65] related to light--driven water splitting where the proton reduction half-reaction is desired to occur, while this half-reaction would inhibit our reactions. The used photocatalyst was synthetized by a novel method where previous Pd/g-C 3 N 4 was irradiated by the light in the presence of Na 2 CO 3 and H 2 O.…”

“…In addition, the reductive coupling of aryl or alkyl halides is of great significance in modern organic synthesis [47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56] , which has prompted us to select this kind of reaction as the model reaction to make our idea come true. Encouraged by prior success in applying carbon nitride-supported transition metal (M/g-C 3 N 4 ) into photocatalytic water splitting, [57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65] we selected this kind of semiconductor to achieve our goals. It is worth noting that the proton reduction is desired in previous literatures related to M/g-C 3 N 4 -catalyzed water splitting, while this half-reaction would inhibit our reaction [44][45][46][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65] .…”

“…Encouraged by prior success in applying carbon nitride-supported transition metal (M/g-C 3 N 4 ) into photocatalytic water splitting, [57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65] we selected this kind of semiconductor to achieve our goals. It is worth noting that the proton reduction is desired in previous literatures related to M/g-C 3 N 4 -catalyzed water splitting, while this half-reaction would inhibit our reaction [44][45][46][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65] . Therefore, the M/g-C 3 N 4 and reaction conditions had to be modified to accelerate the water oxidation and inhibit the proton reduction via a new method, and the results are herein reported.…”

Underfocus Laser Induced Ni Nanoparticles Embedded Metallic MoN Microrods as Patterned Electrode for Efficient Overall Water Splitting

“…Recently, non‐noble metal‐based catalysts had been identified as the alternative of noble metal‐based one to settle down water splitting, such as transition metal alloys, [ 6 ] nitrides, [ 7 ] sulfides, [ 8 ] carbides, [ 9 ] and phosphides. [ 10 ] Especially, molybdenum nitride possessed metallic conductivity and excellent mechanical robustness by virtue of their unique structure, where nitrogen atoms occupied interstitial positions in the metal lattice.…”

Carbon-Based Composites as Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Evolution Reaction in Alkaline Media

“…Other promising electrode materials for water splitting include transition-metal nitrides, in which the electrocatalytic activity, stability, and the number of active sites can be improved by controlling the composition, shape, and morphology of nanoparticles [ 90 , 134 , 135 , 136 , 137 , 138 , 144 , 145 , 146 , 149 , 152 , 196 , 197 , 198 , 199 ]. The presence of nitrogen atoms positively affects the electronic structure of the catalyst, leading to high electron density near the Fermi level and enhanced charge transfer.…”