Electrocatalytic Water Splitting with Black Phosphorus-Based Materials

Electrocatalytic water splitting offers a sustainable route to hydrogen fuel by driving the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) at the cathode and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at the anode. Black phosphorus (BP), particularly in its few-layer form known as black phosphorene, has emerged as a promising electrocatalyst scaffold owing to its high carrier mobility, tunable band structure and abundant surface lone pairs. However, pristine BP suffers from rapid oxidation and structural degradation in aqueous and alkaline media. To overcome these limitations, researchers have explored strategies such as heteroatom doping, surface passivation, hybridisation with transition metals or hydroxides and the construction of two-dimensional (2D)/2D heterostructures. These approaches aim to enhance charge transfer kinetics, optimise chemisorption energies of reaction intermediates and improve long-term stability under operational conditions. Performance metrics typically include overpotentials at benchmark current densities (often 10 mA cm–2), Tafel slopes as indicators of reaction kinetics and extended durability tests. Advances in BP-based electrocatalysts hold promise for integration with renewable energy systems, enabling scaled hydrogen production and contributing to the global hydrogen economy.

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Electrocatalytic Water Splitting with Black Phosphorus-Based Materials publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in electrocatalytic water splitting with black phosphorus-based materials across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Electrocatalyst: Substance that enhances the rate of an electrochemical reaction at an electrode surface.

Overpotential: Additional voltage required beyond the thermodynamic potential to drive an electrochemical reaction at a given current density.

Tafel slope: Parameter indicating how the reaction rate varies with overpotential, reflective of reaction kinetics.

Heterostructure: Composite architecture formed by interfacing different two-dimensional or nanostructured materials to tailor electronic and catalytic properties.

Black phosphorene: Monolayer or few-layer form of black phosphorus with a puckered structure, notable for high conductivity and reactive lone pair electrons.

References

1. Covalently Bonded Ni Sites in Black Phosphorene with Electron Redistribution for Efficient Metal-Lightweighted Water Electrolysis. Nano-Micro Letters (2024).
2. Investigation of Oxygen Evolution Performance of Highly Efficient Water Electrolysis Catalyst: NiFe LDH/BPene. Processes (2023).
3. 2D/2D Black Phosphorus/Nickel Hydroxide Heterostructures for Promoting Oxygen Evolution via Electronic Structure Modulation and Surface Reconstruction. Advanced Energy Materials (2022).