On May 31, 2022, The internationally renowned journal Advanced Energy Materials is entitled "2D/2D Black Phosphorus/Nickel Hydroxide Heterostructures for Promoting Oxygen Evolution via Electronic Structure Modulation and Surface  Reconstruction reported the work of Professor Sun Tzu and his team at Queensland University of Technology in Australia on black phosphorus/nickel hydroxide heterojunction catalyst for oxygen evolution. In this work, by coupling lightly oxidized black phosphorus nanosheets (BP-NSs) obtained by liquid phase stripping with wet chemically synthesized two-dimensional nickel hydroxide nanosheets (NH-NSs), two-dimensional black phosphorus/nickel hydroxide heterojunctions (BNHNSs) were obtained and used for alkaline oxygen evolution reactions.

The overpotential of the heterojunction at the current density of 10 mA cm-2 is only 297 mV, which is 22% and 34% lower than that of the single two-dimensional unit. The structural characterization of the initial reconstruction stage confirmed that the BP-NSs surface further oxidized P-OH and the NH-NSs phase changed into NiOOH hydroxyl oxide. This structural transformation is conducive to the adjustment of electronic structure and the realization of favorable intermediate adsorption, thus promoting the electron transfer process and speeding up the electrocatalytic efficiency. This work provides some insight into the modulation of the electronic structure of two-dimensional heterojunctions to facilitate electrocatalytic properties and extends the application of two-dimensional black phosphorus materials in the field of catalysis.

The black phosphorus crystals used in the preparation of the black phosphorus nanosheet are from XFNANO.

Literature link: https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.202201141