CeO2 nanoparticles-decorated CoP nanocubes for accelerating alkaline electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction

Herein, we report an interfacial CoP/CeO2 heterostructure catalyst constructed by interface engineering and selective phosphorization procedure. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) suggests that coupling CeO2 nanoparticles on the surface of CoP will generate interfacial interaction at the two-phase interface, resulting in electron transfer between CoP and CeO2 components at the interface.

Benefitting from the interfacial interaction, large exposed interface area, and luxuriant mesopores structure, CoP/CeO2 shows fascinating alkaline OER performance. At the current densities of 10 and 50 mA cm−2, the optimal CoP/CeO2 heterojunction exhibits lower overpotential (257 and 298 mV) than either CoP (288 and 354 mV) or RuO2 (305 and 409 mV).