Molybdenum and Phosphorous Dual Doping in Cobalt Monolayer Interfacial Assembled Cobalt Nanowires for Efficient Overall Water Splitting

The necessity for better water splitting requires speedy development of efficient catalysts with high activity, long-term stability, and cost effectiveness. In this work, a bifunctional catalyst originating from the interfacial assembly of a thin Mo,P-codoped Co layer (≈50 nm) shelled Co nanowire (Co-Mo-P/CoNWs) network is fabricated via a facile approach. The catalyst exhibits low overpotentials of 0.08 and 0.27 V to reach a current response of 20 mA cm⁻² for the hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen evolution reaction, respectively, together with long-term stability in 1.0 m KOH medium. The outstanding performance is further demonstrated by a Co-Mo-P/CoNWs-based electrolyzer, which enables a cell voltage of only 1.495 V to reach 10 mA cm⁻², superior to one derived from commercial (Pt/C + RuO₂/C) as well as to various reports recently published elsewhere. It is recognized that the formation of multiactive centers together with the increased active site number caused by Mo and P dual doping synergistically promote both hydrogen and oxygen evolution performance. Such a hybrid material opens a new approach for developing efficient and cost-effective catalysts for water splitting application.