MOF-Derived Bifunctional Cu₃ P Nanoparticles Coated by a N,P-Codoped Carbon Shell for Hydrogen Evolution and Oxygen Reduction.

Abstract

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have recently emerged as a type of uniformly and periodically atom-distributed precursor and efficient self-sacrificial template to fabricate hierarchical porous-carbon-related nanostructured functional materials. For the first time, a Cu-based MOF, i.e., Cu-NPMOF is used, whose linkers contain nitrogen and phosphorus heteroatoms, as a single precursor and template to prepare novel Cu₃ P nanoparticles (NPs) coated by a N,P-codoped carbon shell that is extended to a hierarchical porous carbon matrix with identical uniform N and P doping (termed Cu₃ P@NPPC) as an electrocatalyst. Cu₃ P@NPPC demonstrates outstanding activity for both the hydrogen evolution and oxygen reduction reaction, representing the first example of a Cu₃ P-based bifunctional catalyst for energy-conversion reactions. The high performances are ascribed to the high specific surface area, the synergistic effects of the Cu₃ P NPs with intrinsic activity, the protection of the carbon shell, and the hierarchical porous carbon matrix doped by multiheteroatoms. This strategy of using a diverse MOF as a structural and compositional material to create a new multifunctional composite/hybrid may expand the opportunities to explore highly efficient and robust non-noble-metal catalysts for energy-conversion reactions.