Mo-doped CoP nanosheets as high-performance electrocatalyst for HER and OER

Transition-metal doping and structural improvement are facile and feasible strategies to obtain highly active catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, we prepare Mo-CoP with a nanosheet structure via hydrothermal reactions and phosphorization. Taking advantage of the nanosheet array, the good electrocatalytic performance of Co-based materials for HER and excellent performance of Co-based phosphide for OER are fully demonstrated. Mo-CoP requires only 112 and 329.9 mV to achieve a current density of 100 mA/cm2 for HER and OER in 1.0 M KOH, respectively. Furthermore, when it was used as bifunctional electrocatalyst, Mo-CoP could deliver 10 mA/cm2 at a low cell voltage of 1.54 V. It was found that the activity of Mo-CoP could be ascribed to the structure of nanosheet and the synergistic role of two different metal phosphides. The most important is that the introduction of Mo improves the activity of the catalyst.