High-valence metal engineered trimetallic organic framework derived S, C co-doped FeNiCeP nanospheres for proficient self-powered overall water splitting

The construction of cost-effective and high-performance metal organic framework (MOF) derived metal phosphides as multifunctional electrode materials for self-powered overall water splitting (OWS) is considerable promising. Herein, the trimetallic phosphides embedded in sulfur-containing carbon matrix (SC-FeNiCeP/NF) derived from high-valence metal engineered MOF are grown on nickel foam by hydrothermal and chemical vapor deposition for achieving self-powered OWS. Based on the electron coupling between the metal phosphide interface by high-valent Ce as “electronic storage” to accelerate electron transfer, the SC-FeNiCeP/NF as electrocatalysts present low overpotential with 208 mV and 107 mV at 10 mA cm⁻² in oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), respectively. For supercapacitor, the SC-FeNiCeP/NF nanoarray exhibits high specific capacitance with 2290 F g⁻¹ at 1 A g⁻¹. Combined with excellent SC-FeNiCeP/NF-based asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) and OWS devices, the self-powered OWS are assembled to produce H₂ and O₂ simultaneously in alkaline water for up to ∼ 120 s, creating new possibilities for the energy storage and conversion systems based on the designable and multifunctional MOF-derived materials.