Self-supported N-Doped Carbon@NiXCo2-XP core-shell nanorod arrays on 3D Ni foam for boosted hydrogen evolution reaction

The development of highly efficient and low-cost electrocatalysts for large-scale hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is great important but remains a significant challenge. Transition metal phosphides (TMPs) have attracted intense attention as promising non-noble-metal HER electrocatalysts due to their unique electronic properties and high intrinsic catalytic activities. Herein, we directly grew NiXCo2-XP nanorod wrapped with N-doped carbon shell on 3D Ni foam to fabricate a self-supported electrode with core-shell nanorod array morphology. The obtained hybrid electrode exhibits remarkable electrocatalytic HER activity over a wide pH range with low overpotentials of 121 mV and 181 mV to obtain the current density of 200 mA cm(-2) in 0.5 M H2SO4 and 1 M KOH electrolytes, respectively, which is comparable to that of the current state-of-the-art Pt/C electrocatalyst. The experimental results indicate that the elaborate architectural superiority and composi-tional synergy of this hybrid electrode give rise to the boosted HER performance. (C) 2021 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

A new self-supported electrode with core-shell nanorod array morphology was developed, exhibiting remarkable performance in hydrogen evolution reaction over a wide pH range. The experimental results suggest that the elaborate architectural superiority and compositional synergy of this hybrid electrode contribute to the boosted HER performance.