Colloidal Synthesis of Chromium Phosphide Assisted by Partial Oxidation and Its Electrocatalytic Activity in Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Abstract

Due to their outstanding performance in valuable electrochemical reactions, transition-metal phosphides (TMPs) have emerged as promising electrocatalysts. The low boiling point of the intermediate reactants was a significant obstacle in synthesizing various TMPs. The present work describes a highly reproducible and cost-effective method for synthesizing chromium phosphide (CrP) nanoparticles using a volatile transition-metal precursor. We successfully synthesized crystallinity-controllable CrP nanoparticles using a partially oxidized chromium compound. The obtained CrP nanoparticles have demonstrated highly selective and stable catalytic performance in the oxygen reduction reaction, with an electron-transfer number of 3.93 in a 0.1 M KOH solution.