Efficient Water Oxidation Using CoMnP Nanoparticles

The development of efficient water oxidation catalysts based on inexpensive and Earth-abundant materials is a prerequisite to enabling water splitting as a feasible source of alternative energy. In this work, we report the synthesis of ternary cobalt manganese phosphide nanoparticles from the solution-phase reaction of manganese and cobalt carbonyl complexes with trioctylphosphine. The CoMnP nanoparticles (ca. 5 nm in diameter) are nearly monodisperse and homogeneous in nature. These CoMnP nanoparticles are capable of catalyzing water oxidation at an overpotential of 0.33 V with a 96% Faradaic efficiency when deposited as an ink with carbon black and Nafion. A slight decrease in activity is observed after 500…

• WS
  Wayne State University
• DO
  Division of Materials Research

  Award: DMR-1361470
• DO
  Division of Chemistry

  Awards: CHE-1500201, CHE-1367702
• BE
  Basic Energy Sciences

  Award: DE-SC0001907