Ni–P alloy@carbon nanotubes immobilized on the framework of Ni foam as a 3D hierarchical porous self-supporting electrode for hydrogen evolution reaction

Abstract

The development of self-supporting electrodes that exhibited both high efficiency and good durability remained a challenge in the field of hydrogen energy utilisation. Here, we designed a self-supporting 3D hierarchical porous electrode by filling carbon nanotubes (CNTs) loaded with Ni–P alloy into the framework of nickel foam (NF). Firstly, CNTs were decorated with a catalytically active Ni–P alloy via electroless plating (Ni–P@CNTs). Then, the Ni–P@CNTs were filled and anchored onto the framework of NF via electroplating to synthesise a self-supporting electrode (Ni–P@CNTs/NF). The Ni–P@CNTs/NF exhibited an excellent catalytic performance toward the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in 1 M KOH electrolyte, with an overpotential of 53 mV at 10 mA cm−2, a small Tafel slope of 101.56 mV dec−1 and excellent long-term durability. This facile and effective strategy might provide a new path to the design of self-supporting electrodes with enhanced HER catalytic.