Iron-Induced Lattice Distortion Generally Boots the Graphene-Supported Nickel Phosphide Particles Catalysis for Efficient Overall Water Splitting

Rational design of high-efficient, low-cost and stable bifunctional electrocatalysts is absolutely necessary but challenging for water electrolysis. Transition metal phosphides (TMPs) with rich redox properties are considered to be the most promising substitutes for noble-metal materials but with aggregation and poor intrinsic electrical conductivity. Herein, an ultra-fast and controllable microwave strategy for Fe-doped nickel phosphide on reduced graphene oxide (Fe-Ni12P5/rGO) is reported as bifunctional electrocatalysts for overall water splitting of HER and OER. It is noteworthy that Fe doping can significantly cause the lattice distortion of Ni12P5 and lead to the increase of electrocatalytic active sites and modulation of the electronic structure of each catalytic center. Benefiting from the highly active Fe-Ni12P5 nanoparticles and two-dimensional graphene conductive network, the as-fabricated Fe-Ni12P5/rGO hybrid show excellent bifunctional electrocatalytic activity and cycling stability. In addition, an overall water splitting device with Fe-Ni12P5/rGO as both the cathode and anode electrocatalysts requires only an extremely low cell voltage of 1.57 V to reach 10 mA cm−2, which is attractive among latest researches. This work provides a new avenue for designing high-performance composite electrocatalysts through Fe-induced lattice distortion and microwave reaction