FeCoNiP Alloy Nanoparticles Integrated on Vertically Aligned Phosphorus-doped Single-walled Carbon Nanotubes for Overall Water Splitting

Highly efficient and cost-efficient catalysts for overall water splitting are essential for practical applications; however, it is challenging to manufacture such catalysts. Herein, we report the fabrication of a cost-effective electrocatalyst consisting of FeCoNiP alloy nanoparticles that are integrated on vertically aligned phosphorus-doped single-walled carbon nanotubes (VPSWCNTs) on Au electrode (FeCoNiP/VPSWCNTs/Au). The catalyst exhibited excellent catalytic performance in 1.0 M KOH for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) (overpotential of 147 mV and Tafel slope of 64 mV dec−1) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) (overpotential of 280 mV and Tafel slope of 43 mV dec−1) with the current density of 10 mA cm−2. FeCoNiP/VPSWCNTs/Au exhibited good stability and activity for at least 10 h. These results indicate that FeCoNiP/VPSWCNTs/Au can be used as a cost-effective and earth-abundant non-noble-metal efficient catalyst for overall water splitting.