Industrial emissions of phosphine (PH3), a highly toxic and flammable gas from phosphorus chemical industries and semiconductor manufacturing, demand urgent mitigation to protect public health and the climate. While traditional methods focus on capturing and disposing of these pollutants, a collaborative research team led by Professors Lijuan Jia, Shuo Cui, and Jiayu Feng at Yunnan Minzu University has introduced a "closed-loop" strategy. They have successfully upcycled PH3 waste into high-value electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), a critical process for the global transition to a hydrogen economy.
The team's research, published in the journal Nano Research on June 24, 2026, details the use of spherical nickel oxide (NiO) as a highly efficient scavenger. The NiO precursor achieves a PH3 removal efficiency of 99.2% and a record-breaking adsorption capacity. Crucially, the process does not end with a "spent" adsorbent; instead, the captured phosphorus reacts with the nickel host to form a unique Ni2P/Ni5P4 heterostructure. "Converting hazardous industrial waste into high-value energy materials represents a sustainable strategy for environmental management. Our work demonstrates that we can turn an environmental burden into a powerful asset for green energy," said Prof. Lijuan Jia, a senior author of the study.
The resulting catalyst demonstrates exceptional performance in water splitting. The secret to this efficiency lies in the atomic-scale engineering of the "spent" material. By precisely controlling the phosphidation kinetics, the researchers created an intimate interface between two different nickel phosphide phases Ni2P/Ni5P4. To understand the underlying mechanism, the team performed Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations. "The heterojunction creates a built-in electric field that optimizes the electronic structure of the nickel active sites" explained Dr. Shuo Cui, co-author of the paper. "This modulation fundamentally changes the chemistry of water dissociation—usually a difficult, energy-consuming step—making it spontaneous and thermodynamically favorable. It essentially clears the 'bottleneck' for hydrogen production."
The researchers expect this "waste-to-energy" protocol to have significant implications for the phosphorus chemical industry, particularly in regions with high concentrations of mineral processing. The ultimate goal is to scale up this technology to create dual-functional industrial facilities that simultaneously purify toxic air and produce clean hydrogen fuel.
"This work provides a scalable blueprint for phosphorus resource circularity," added Prof. Jiayu Feng. "By treating the pollutant as a reagent rather than a waste, we are moving closer to a zero-emission industrial cycle."
Other contributors include Fang Wang, Haocheng Yang, Yu Cheng, Yikun Li, Rui Cao, and Zibin Pan from Yunnan Minzu University, and Prof. Ping Ning from Kunming University of Science and Technology.
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52400190, 52300140), the Basic Research Program of Yunnan Provincial Department of Science and Technology, and the Scientific Research Program of Yunnan Provincial Department of Education.
DOI Link:
https://doi.org/10.26599/NR.2026.94908623
About Nano Research
Nano Research is a peer-reviewed, open access, international and interdisciplinary research journal, sponsored by Tsinghua University and the Chinese Chemical Society, published by Tsinghua University Press on the platform SciOpen. It publishes original high-quality research and significant review articles on all aspects of nanoscience and nanotechnology, ranging from basic aspects of the science of nanoscale materials to practical applications of such materials. After 18 years of development, it has become one of the most influential academic journals in the nano field. Nano Research has published more than 1,000 papers every year from 2022, with its cumulative count surpassing 8,000 articles. In 2025 InCites Journal Citation Reports, its 2025 IF is 9.4 (8.3, 5 years), and it continues to be the Q1 area among the four subject classifications. Nano Research Award, established by Nano Research together with TUP and Springer Nature in 2013, and Nano Research Young Innovators (NR45) Awards, established by Nano Research in 2018, have become international academic awards with global influence.
