General Synthesis of Multishell Mixed-Metal Oxyphosphide Particles with Enhanced Electrocatalytic Activity in the Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

We report a general approach for the synthesis of multishell mixed-metal oxyphosphide particles. Seven-layer Mn-Co oxide particles were first prepared by thermal treatment of Mn-Co coordination polymer precursors. Afterwards, these multishell Mn-Co oxide particles were further transformed into multishell Mn-Co oxyphosphide particles through a phosphidation reaction. This approach is very versatile and can be applied to synthesize other multishell mixed-metal oxyphosphide particles with different compositions. By applying a constant electrochemical potential, these multishell Mn-Co oxyphosphide particles can be activated to produce Mn-Co oxide/hydroxide species in their nanoshells and then show greatly enhanced electrocatalytic activity in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER).