Direct synthesis of parallel doped N-MoP/N-CNT as highly active hydrogen evolution reaction catalyst

Abstract

Doped phosphide is promising in earth-abundant element based catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Here we employ ammonium hypophosphite (NH4H2PO2) to synthesize a novel parallel doped catalyst, nitrogen doped molybdenum phosphide nanoparticles (NPs) supported on nitrogen doped carbon nanotubes (N-MoP/ N-CNTs ). The NH4H2PO2 as a bifunctional agent severs as both phosphidation agent and nitrogen source, which makes the synthetic route simple and efficient. The as-obtained parallel doped N-MoP/N-CNTs show an overpotential of 103±5 mV at 10 mA cm−2, which is 140 mV lower than that of MoP NPs. The enhanced HER performance is attributed to the electronic effect by doped MoP and CNTs supports. This work provides a facile route to synthesize doped phosphides for the potential applications in hydrogen energy.