Pd-Modified CoP and CoFeP Catalysts as Efficient Bifunctional Catalysts for Water Splitting

Developing highly efficient and stable electrocatalysts from inexpensive and earth-abundant elements represents a significant advancement in overall water splitting (OWS). This study focuses on the synthesis and evaluation of palladium-modified cobalt–phosphorus (PdCoP) and cobalt–iron–phosphorus (PdCoFeP) coatings for use as electrocatalysts in hydrogen evolution (HER), oxygen evolution (OER) and overall water splitting (OWS) in alkaline media. A facile electroless plating method is adopted to deposit the CoP and CoFeP coatings onto a copper surface (Cu sheet), with sodium hypophosphite (NaH2PO2) acting as the reducing agent. Pd crystallites were incorporated on CoP and CoFeP coatings using the galvanic displacement method. This study details morphological characterization (using SEM, EDX, and XRD), as well as electrochemical activity testing, for both HER and OER using linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) at different temperatures. The stability of the catalysts for HER was evaluated using chronoamperometry (CA) and chronopotentiometry (CP). The results show that the Pd-modified CoFeP and CoP catalysts exhibited lower overpotentials of 207 and 227 mV, respectively, for HER and 396 mV for OER at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 compared to the unmodified CoFeP and CoP catalysts. The innovation achieved in this study lies in combining a facile, low-cost deposition method (electroless plating followed by galvanic displacement) with a novel, highly effective ternary composition (PdCoFeP) that exploits synergistic electronic and morphological effects to achieve superior bifunctional performance for alkaline OWS, achieving a low cell voltage of 1.69 V at a current density of 10 mA cm−2. Overall, this research demonstrates that these synthesized materials are promising candidates for sustainable and economical hydrogen production.