Fabrication of robust CoP/Ni2P/CC composite for efficient hydrogen evolution reaction and the reduction of graphene oxide

Abstract

Developing the novel catalysts with an excellent performance of hydrogen generation is essential to facilitate the application of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, a heterostructured cobalt phosphide/nickel phosphide/carbon cloth (CoP/Ni2P/CC) composite was fabricated via an interfacial engineering strategy to achieve the modification of CoP nanoleaf on Ni2P nanosheet skeleton supported by carbon cloth. By virtue of the unique heterostructure, abundant exposing active sites and the synergistic coupling effect of CoP and Ni2P nanoparticles, the elaborated CoP/Ni2P/CC composite exhibits a robust catalytic property. Among fabricated composites, the optimal CoP/Ni2P/CC-4 catalyst behaves an excellent HER performance at a wide pH range (overpotentials of 67, 71 and 95 mV to afford 10 mA cm−2 in 0.5 M H2SO4, 1 M KOH and 1 M PBS, respectively). The HER current density of this composite shows a negligible degradation after continuous test for 24 h. Charmingly, the HER process of this catalyst was innovatively applied to reduce graphene oxide, and thus exploiting the fabrication route of reduced graphene oxide (rGO). We are sure that this work will provide a firm guideline for the exploitation of pH-universal HER catalysts and the exploration of HER application.