Modulation Strategies for Improving Electrocatalytic Performance of Transition Metal Phosphides

With growing concerns regarding global warming and the depletion of fossil fuel resources, there is an increasingly urgent demand for electrochemical energy storage and conversion technologies, including zinc-air batteries, fuel cells, and integrated water splitting systems. The development of cost-effective and efficient electrocatalysts is pivotal to the commercial viability of electrocatalytic technologies related to energy. Transition metal phosphides (TMPs) have emerged as promising electrocatalysts in the energy sector owing to their adjustable electronic structure, abundant availability, and distinctive physicochemical properties. Modification of transition metal phosphides can be expected to result in enhanced catalytic performance. In this paper, several commonly employed strategies for improving performance including elemental doping, M/P stoichiometric ratios tuning, vacancy engineering, heterointerface engineering and carbon materials incorporation, which are of reference value for promoting the development of TMPs electrocatalysts and constructing highly active TMPs electrocatalysts to solve a variety of energy and environmental problems.