An efficient vanadium/cobalt metaphosphate electrocatalyst for hydrogen and oxygen evolution in alkaline water splitting

Abstract

Hydrogen, which can contribute to the goal of carbon neutrality, is expected to replace conventional fossil fuels in the near future. Electrochemical water splitting is a clean hydrogen production technology, but its industrialization is limited by the efficiency and cost of catalysts. In this work, an electrocatalyst containing cobalt metaphosphate and vanadium metaphosphate was synthesized through a facile soaking–phosphating method. The catalyst requires small overpotentials of 96 mV and 205 mV for obtaining 10 mA cm⁻² and 50 mA cm⁻² in hydrogen evolution, and 368 mV for obtaining 100 mA cm⁻² in oxygen evolution, respectively. This achievement sheds light on a high-performance, low-cost catalyst for water splitting.