Activation of interfacial P sites of CoP in RuP3/CoP nanosheets boosts hydrogen evolution reaction at all pH values

Developing cost-effective electrocatalysts with efficient activity and superior stability for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) over a wide pH range is highly desirable and remains a significant challenge. Herein, we report CoP supported RuP3 nanosheet (RuP3-CoP NS) HER electrocatalysts through an icetemplating method. Constructing heterojunctions of RuP3 and CoP can reduce the loading of scarce Ru species in the catalyst, and meanwhile, maintain efficient HER activity over a wide pH range. The RuP3 eCoP NS catalyst with only about 15 wt.% loading of Ru species exhibits remarkable HER performance with excellent catalytic stability and low overpotentials of 25, 60, and 81 mV at 10 mA/cm(2) in alkaline, acidic, and neutral media, respectively. The density functional theory calculations indicated that the RuP3 could induce boosting the catalytic activity of P sites in CoP. The enhancement of the HER performance can be attributed to the electron transfer from RuP3 to the P sites in CoP, which changes its electronic structure, and thus, optimizing the adsorption strength of H*. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

A RuP3-CoP NS HER electrocatalyst was developed using an icetemplating method, showing efficient activity and stability over a wide pH range with only about 15 wt.% loading of Ru species.