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Three-dimensional self-supporting Ni2P-Ni12P5/NF heterostructure as an efficient electrocatalyst to enhance hydrogen evolution reaction

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Abstract

Increasing active sites by constructing a heterostructure is a very effective method to improve the electrocatalytic performance. In this work, we synthesized a three-dimensional self-supporting Ni2P-Ni12P5/NF heterostructure supported on nickel foams by hydrothermal reaction and low-temperature phosphorization, used as an efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalyst. The structure, composition, morphology, and HER performance of the catalyst were characterized by XRD, XPS, SEM, TEM, and electrochemical workstation. The experimental results show that the Ni2P-Ni12P5/NF heterostructure demonstrates better HER catalytic activity in 0.5 M H2SO4, only requiring an overpotential of 124 mV at 10 mA cm−2 with a Tafel slope of 84.1 mV dec−1 and displaying good long-term stability. The high activity and stability of the as-synthesized Ni2P-Ni12P5/NF catalyst in HER are mainly due to the synergy between Ni2P-Ni12P5 with a unique heterostructure and nickel foam conductive substrate with a three-dimensional porous structure, which is beneficial to increase the electrocatalytic active area and thus provide more active sites.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21865032) and the Outstanding Graduate Student “the Star of Innovation” Project of Gansu Province (No. 2021CXZX-285).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Eco-Functional Polymer Materials of the Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, 730070, China

    Yanxia Wu, Xiangping Chen, Lirong Su & Qingtao Wang

  2. Key Laboratory of Evidence Science Research and Application of Gansu Province, Gansu University of Political Science and Law, Lanzhou, 730070, China

    Shufang Ren

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  1. Yanxia Wu
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  2. Xiangping Chen
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  3. Lirong Su
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  4. Qingtao Wang
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Correspondence to Yanxia Wu or Qingtao Wang.

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Wu, Y., Chen, X., Su, L. et al. Three-dimensional self-supporting Ni2P-Ni12P5/NF heterostructure as an efficient electrocatalyst to enhance hydrogen evolution reaction. Ionics 28, 3935–3944 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-022-04631-2

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