“Gear-like” carbonized flax cloth decorated with Fe2P/CoMoP as an eco-friendly and efficient electrode for water splitting

Abstract

A flexible and environmentally friendly flax substrate was utilized in a novel one-step calcination process to integrate Fe₂P/CoMoP nanoparticles into the aligned channels of flax, resulting in the development of an efficient carbonized flax cloth (CFC) electrode, termed Fe₂P/CoMoP@CFC. The uniform dispersion of Fe₂P/CoMoP nanoparticles, combined with the “gear-like” structure of flax, enhances the materials' active surface area and significantly improves electron and mass transport efficiency. The Fe₂P/CoMoP@CFC electrode exhibits exceptional electrocatalytic performance, achieving a current density of 10 mA cm⁻² with remarkably low overpotentials of 260 mV for oxygen evolution and 171 mV for hydrogen evolution. Moreover, when utilized as both anode and cathode in a bifunctional setup, the flax-derived electrocatalyst achieves a current density of 10 mA cm⁻² at an applied voltage of just 1.65 V, highlighting its remarkable efficiency. Compared to traditional substrates for bifunctional electrocatalysts, the abundance, affordability, environmental sustainability, and simplicity of fabricating flax-based catalysts make them a highly attractive option for scalable applications in water splitting and other energy storage systems.