N-induced lattice contraction generally boosts the hydrogen evolution catalysis of P-rich metal phosphides.

ABSTRACT: P-rich transition metal phosphides (TMPs) with abundant P sites have been predicted to be more favorable for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysis. However, the actual activities of P-rich TMPs do not behave as expected, and the underlying essence especially at the atomic level is also ambiguous. Our structural analysis reveals the inferior activity could stem from the reduced overlap of atomic wave functions between metal and P with the increase in P contents, which consequently results in too strong P-H interaction. To this end, we used N-induced lattice contraction to generally boost the HER catalysis of P-rich TMPs including CoP₂, FeP₂, NiP₂, and MoP₂. Refined structural characterization and theoretical analysis indicate the N-P strong

SUBMITTER: Cai J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6941910 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature