Revealing component synergy of Ni–Fe/black phosphorous composites synthesized by self-designed electrochemical method for enhancing photoelectrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction

Developing high-activity and low-cost catalysts is the key to eliminate the limitation of sluggish anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) during electrocatalytic overall water splitting. Herein, Ni–Fe/black phosphorous (BP) composites are synthesized using a simple three-electrode system, where exfoliation of bulky BP and synthesis of NiFe composites are simultaneously achieved. Under light illumination, the optimized Ni–Fe/BP composite exhibits excellent photoelectrocatalytic OER performance (e.g., the overpotential is 58 mV lower than a commercial RuO₂ electrocatalyst at a current density of 10 mA·cm⁻²). The electron transfer on this composite is proved to follow a Ni–BP–Fe pathway. The electronic structure of this Ni–Fe/BP composite is effectively regulated, leading to optimized adsorption strength of the intermediate OH* and improved intrinsic activity for the OER. Together with active sites on the support, this Ni–Fe/BP composite possesses abundant electrochemical active sites and a bug surface area for the OER. The introduction of light further accelerates the electrocatalytic OER. This work provides a novel and facile method to synthesize high-performance metal/BP composites as well as the approaches to reveal their OER mechanisms.