B-doping-induced amorphization of LDH for large-current-density hydrogen evolution reaction

Developing a platinum-free hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalyst that can steadily drive a large current density is of great significance in a commercially electrochemical water splitting technology. Herein, we show that the B-doping-induced amorphization of crystalline layered double hydroxide (LDH) activates it as an extremely efficient HER catalyst. The amorphous B-incorporated nickel-cobalt LDH supported on the nickel foam (A-NiCo LDH/NF) can yield large current densities at small overpotentials (100 mA cm(-2) at 151 mV, 500 mA cm(-2) at 286 mV, and 1000 mA cm(-2) at 381 mV) with high durability in alkaline medium even after 72 h, which is even better than commercial platinum. This work may provide a promising way for structure tuning of transition metal LDH to effectively boost HER efficiency towards practical water electrolysis.