Superwettable and photothermal all-in-one electrocatalyst for boosting water/urea electrolysis
Lunhong Ai, Xinzhi Wang, Jingyu Luo, Jing Jiang
Abstract
Developing multifunctional all-in-one electrocatalysts for energy-saving hydrogen generation remains a challenge. In this study, a simple and feasible thermal phosphorization strategy is explored to rationally construct P-doped MoO 2 -NiMoO 4 heterostructure on nickel foam (NF). The heterointerfaced P-MoO 2 -NiMoO 4 /NF can simultaneously realize the integrated all-in-one functionalities, innovatively introducing superwettable surfaces, photothermal conversion capabilities and electrocatalytic functions. The superwettability gives P-MoO 2 -NiMoO 4 /NF sufficient electrolyte permeation and smooth bubble detachment. The plasmonic MoO 2 with photothermal performance greatly elevates the local surface temperature of in P-MoO 2 -NiMoO 4 /NF, which is conducive to improve the electrocatalytic efficiency. The favorable in-situ surface reconstruction brings abundant active sites for electrocatalytic reactions. As an advanced multifunctional electrocatalyst, the superwettable and photothermal P-MoO 2 -NiMoO 4 /NF exhibits significantly improved performances in oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and urea oxidation reaction (UOR). More importantly, the highly efficient and stable overall water-urea electrolysis assisted by photothermal fields can be simply achieved by exposing P-MoO 2 -NiMoO 4 /NF to near-infrared (NIR) light.