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Hyperbranched NixPy/NiCoP Arrays Based on Nickel Foam Electrode for Efficient and Stable Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

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Abstract

Transition metal phosphides have high catalytic performance and stability among non-precious metal electrocatalysts, particularly exhibiting good hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance in alkaline solutions, due to the platinum-like electronic structure of transition metal phosphides. In this study, we successfully synthesized nickel phosphide and nickel cobalt phosphate hybrid on the three-dimensional nickel foam by a facile hydrothermal method. It is worth noting that the NixPy/NiCoP in 1 M KOH only needs the overpotential of 95 mV to reach the current density of 10 mA∙cm−2 for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the overpotential of 231 mV at 10 mA∙cm−2 for oxygen evolution reaction (OER), which is superior to most electrocatalysts. The obtained results indicate that there is a synergistic effect between the three elements of Ni, Co, and P, facilitating the process of electrocatalysis. Meanwhile, the synthesized electrode not only has a large active surface area, but also good electrical conductivity, effectively facilitating the electrocatalytic reaction kinetics. Thus, this work provides an effective route to a low-cost, high-performance catalyst for electrocatalytic hydrogen production.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Tianjin Enterprise Science and Technology commissioner Project (No. 20YDTPJC00400), Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin (No. 20JCYBJC00550), and Tianjin Key Laboratory of Building Green Functional Materials Open Foundation (TJBGFM-2019-04).

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  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Chengjian University, Tianjin, 300384, China

    Zhixin Liu, Zhengang Guo, Fasong Yang & Zhifeng Liu

  2. Tianjin Key Laboratory of Building Green Functional Materials, Tianjin, 300384, China

    Zhengang Guo & Zhifeng Liu

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  1. Zhixin Liu
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Liu, Z., Guo, Z., Yang, F. et al. Hyperbranched NixPy/NiCoP Arrays Based on Nickel Foam Electrode for Efficient and Stable Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution. Electrocatalysis 13, 611–621 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12678-022-00747-1

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