Ni-Co-Mo-O nanosheets decorated with NiCo nanoparticles as advanced electrocatalysts for highly efficient hydrogen evolution

The development of efficient and durable HER electrocatalysts is urgently required to enhance the efficiency of water splitting. Here we report the Ni-Co-Mo-O nanosheets decorated with NiCo nanoparticles supported on NF (NF/NiCoMoO-H2) as efficient HER electrocatalysts in alkaline media. The introduction of oxygen vacancies and multiple metal ions (Ni-Co-Mo-O nanosheets) accelerates water dissociation, while metal atoms (NiCo nanoparticles) promote the adsorption and association of hydrogen intermediates into H2 molecules. The efficiently synergistic effect between Ni-Co-Mo-O nanosheets and NiCo nanoparticles results in the NF/NiCoMoO-H2 with a low overpotential of 15 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and Tafel slope of 33.1 mV dec−1. More importantly, the water–alkali electrolyzer using NF/NiCoMoO-H2 as cathode and NF/NiFe-LDH as anode shows a low voltage of 1.44 V at 10 mA cm−2 and remarkable stability. Owing to the controllable fabrication process and excellent HER performance, the NF/NiCoMoO-H2 is a promising electrocatalyst for the practical water splitting.