Network-like porous Co-Ni-B grown on carbon cloth as efficient and stable catalytic electrodes for hydrogen evolution

Abstract

We reported a network-like porous amorphous Co-Ni-B grown on carbon cloth (CC) through a facile one-step chemical reduction process which was used as a binder-free three dimension (3D) integrated electrode for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The Co-Ni-B/CC with Co/Ni molar ratio about 1:1 (Co-50Ni-B/CC) exhibited the best HER performance in alkaline medium, with a negligible onset overpotential (22 mV), a small Tafel slope (88.2 mV dec−1) and excellent long-term stability. Specially, the HER activity of Co-50Ni-B/CC even exceeds that of commercial Pt/C at sufficiently high overpotential. The excellent HER performance of the Co-Ni-B/CC is attributed to a large number of active sites, the enhanced electron transfer process and the robust contact between catalyst and CC substrate.