Simple fabrication of amorphous nanocomposite NiCoP@NiMoSe@NF nanospheres as a binder-free and high-performance electrocatalyst for alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction

Abstract

Hydrogen generation through electrochemical water electrolysis using high-performance, low-cost, and non-precious metal electrocatalysts is crucial for the conversion of renewable energy toward hydrogen energy. This paper reports the synthesis of NiCoP nanoparticles on NiMoSe/NF nanospheres structure composite by a facile two-step hydrothermal strategy as a 3D amorphous binder-free electrocatalyst for efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The interface NiMoSe layer can accelerate the dissociation of H2O, promote electron conductivity, and strongly boost the electrocatalytic HER activity/stability of NiCoP/NiMoSe/NF alloy. Simple fabrication of NiCoP on NiMoSe@NF leads to an increase in ample active sites, optimizes hydrogen adsorption sites, and facilitates bubble release enabling the NiCoP@NiMoSe@NF electrode to manifest outstanding HER performance in alkaline electrolyte, with overpotentials of 40 and 167 mV to achieve the current density of 10 and 100 mA.cm−2. The easiness and cost-effective fabrication process in this work can open a new route for preparing state-of-the-art Ni-based catalysts for a wide range of industrial applications in water splitting.