Searching for highly efficient, stable and non-noble metal electrocatalysts for the hydrogen/oxygen evolution reaction (HER/OER) is crucial to renewable-energy conversion systems. Cobalt phosphosulfide (CoPS) is regarded as a promising electrocatalyst for the HER in acid solution. Nonetheless, there are no studies of its HER and OER activity in basic solution. Herein, we engineer a novel and highly efficient water splitting electrocatalyst of ultrafine CoPS nanoparticles (NPs) encapsulated in N, P, and S tri-doped porous carbon (CoPS@NPS-C) through metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and commercial carbon black (XC-72) as precursors. The abundant and evenly distributed metals of MOFs form ultrafine CoPS NPs, and the rich N organic ligands of MOFs and XC-72 are shaped into the NPS-C to protect CoPS NPs leading to long-term stability in water-splitting applications. Meanwhile, the strong interaction between CoPS and NPS-C in this special structure not only ensures the high activity of the HER in acid solution and the OER in alkaline solution, but also maintains good HER performance in alkaline solution. The results display that the novel structure electrocatalyst of CoPS@NPS-C has great potential in water-splitting applications.

中文翻译：

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包裹在N，P和S三掺杂多孔碳中的超细CoPS纳米颗粒，在酸性和碱性溶液中均是有效的双功能水分解电催化剂†

寻找高效，稳定且非贵金属的氢/氧逸出反应（HER / OER）电催化剂对于可再生能源转换系统至关重要。磷硫化钴（CoPS）被认为是酸性溶液中HER的有前途的电催化剂。但是，在碱性溶液中没有研究其HER和OER活性。在这里，我们设计了一种新型高效的超细CoPS纳米粒子水分解电催化剂，该纳米粒子通过金属有机骨架（MOF）和商业碳封装在N，P和S三掺杂多孔碳（CoPS @ NPS-C）中黑色（XC-72）作为前体。MOF的金属丰富且分布均匀，形成了超细CoPS NP，MOF和XC-72的富含N的有机配体形成NPS-C，以保护CoPS NP，从而在水分解应用中具有长期稳定性。同时，在这种特殊的结构中，CoPS和NPS-C之间的强相互作用不仅确保了HER在酸性溶液中的高活性，而且OER在碱性溶液中的高活性，而且在碱性溶液中保持了良好的HER性能。结果表明，新型CoPS @ NPS-C结构电催化剂在水分解应用中具有巨大的潜力。