Bi-Metal Phosphide NiCoP: An Enhanced Catalyst for the Reduction of 4-Nitrophenol

Porous phosphide Ni(x)Co(y)P composite nanomaterials are successfully synthesized at different Ni/Co ratios (=0, 0.5, 1, and 2) to reduce 4-nitrophenol. The X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results demonstrate that the products are CoP, NiCoP/CoP, NiCoP, and NiCoP/Ni(2)P when the Ni/Co ratio is 0, 0.5, 1, and 2, respectively. The products exhibit different catalytic performance for reduction of 4-nitrophenol at room temperature. Among them, the pure NiCoP delivers a better catalytic efficiency with [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] , due to the synergy between Ni and Co atoms. The sequence of catalytic efficiency of different samples is CoP < NiCoP/CoP < NiCoP/Ni(2)P < NiCoP.