Boron and phosphorus co-doped NiVFe LDHs@NF as a highly efficient self-supporting electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction

Developing highly efficient, inexpensive, and stable electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is indispensable to building a sustainable and large-scale hydrogen conversion system. In this work, we designed a ternary NiVFe layered double hydroxide nanosheet on porous nickel foam via hydrothermal method to prepare a self-supporting electrocatalyst and co-doped with boron and phosphorus which control the electronic structure of the nanosheets. Simultaneous, the B-P co-doping formation numerous defects and amorphous regions on the nanosheet, which guarantees efficient active sites and enhanced active surface area. As expected, the electrochemical test of HER results shows that the NiVFe-B-P LDHs@NF requires an overpotentials of 117 mV at a current density of 10 mA?cm?2 in the 1.0 M KOH electrolyte without iR compensation, as well as exhibits excellent stability of 24 h at current densities of 10 mA?cm?2 and 50 mA?cm?2, respectively. Moreover, evaluation of wettability shows that the electrocatalyst has excellent superhydrophilicity and superaerophobicity. We expect the results of this work provides a fresh perspective for double-nonmetal co-doping electrocatalysts with efficient hydrogen generation.

Automated summary

In this study, a novel double nonmetal co-doped electrocatalyst was developed to enhance the active sites and active surface area for efficient hydrogen generation. By controlling the electronic structure of the nanosheets and forming defects and amorphous regions, the electrocatalyst exhibited remarkable performance in hydrogen evolution reaction with excellent stability.