NiMoFe and NiMoFeP as Complementary Electrocatalysts for Efficient Overall Water Splitting and Their Application in PV-Electrolysis with STH 12.3%

Complementary water splitting electrocatalysts used simultaneously in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) can simplify water splitting systems. Herein, earth-abundant NiMoFe (NMF) and phosphorized NiMoFeP (NMFP) are synthesized as complementary overall water splitting (OWS) catalysts. First, NMF is tested as both the HER and OER promoter, which exhibits low overpotentials of 68 (HER) and 337 mV (OER). A quaternary NMFP is then prepared by simple phosphorization of NMF, which shows a much lower OER overpotential of 286 mV. The enhanced OER activity is attributed to the unique surface/core structure of NMFP. The surface phosphate acts as a proton transport mediator and expedites the rate-determining step. With the application of OER potential, the NMFP surface is composed of Ni(OH)(2) and FeOOH, active sites for OER, but the inner core consists of Ni, Mo, and Fe metals, serving as a conductive electron pathway. OWS with NMF-NMFP requires an applied voltage of 1.452 V to generate 10 mA cm(-2), which is one of the lowest values among OWS results with transition-metal-based electrocatalysts. Furthermore, the catalysts are combined with tandem perovskite solar cells for photovoltaic (PV)-electrolysis, producing a high solar-to-hydrogen (STH) conversion efficiency of 12.3%.