Cu–Co–P electrodeposited on carbon paper as an efficient electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction in anion exchange membrane water electrolyzers

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To solve the issues of energy shortage and environmental pollution, it is essential to develop highly effective catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in water electrolysis. Herein, we report a facile and rapid fabrication of a Cu–Co–P catalyst on a carbon paper (CP) substrate using electrodeposition. First, the deposition conditions for Co–P/CP were optimized. The prepared Co–P consisted of numerous spheres and exhibited acceptable catalytic activity towards HER in an alkaline medium with an overpotential of 72 mV at current density of −10 mA/cm2. Further performance enhancement was achieved by the incorporation of Cu to modify the electronic structure of the Co–P catalyst. In a half-cell test, the optimized Cu–Co–P/CP exhibits remarkable performance, achieving −10 mA/cm2 at an overpotential of 59 mV, and the Tafel slope is 38 mV/dec. In a single-cell test, an anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer with a Cu–Co–P/CP cathode and commercial IrO2/CP anode exhibited high current density of 0.70 A/cm2 at 1.9 Vcell.