Design and Synthesis of Highly Active Al-Ni-P Foam Electrode for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

An effective method to boost the electrocatalytic activity of nickel phosphides in H-2 evolution reaction is reported. The method took advantage of density functional theory calculations that allowed the design of a highly active material based on the combination of d-metal with p-metal within a phosphide structure. Furthermore, the principle is proven experimentally through successful synthesis of self-supported ternary Al-Ni-P foam electrocatalyst by alloying of Ni and Al followed by the gas transport phosphorization reaction. As a cathode for H-2 evolution reaction in acidic electrolyte, Al-Ni-P significantly outperforms pure Ni-P, and it has an exchange current density of 0.6 mA/cm(2) and a Tafel slope of 65 mV/decade.