Green Fabrication of Ultrafine N-Moxc/Cop Complex Electrocatalyst for Boosting Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

The key issue for green hydrogen generation in the next decades will be the development of non-noble-metal electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution revolution (HER) from water splitting with high activity and stability. Herein, the as-synthesized CoP with its effective charge transfer capability was utilized, and N-MoxC was then further modified on it. The best electrocatalytic HER activity of N-MoxC/CoP-0.5 was achieved with a reasonable overpotential of 106 mV (at 10 mA cm-2) and a Tafel slope of 59 mV dec-1 in 1.0 M KOH solution. It continued to have superior activity after working continuously for 37 h. N-MoxC modification of CoP results in uniformly distributed nanoparticles with enlarged specific surface area. The formation of the N-MoxC/CoP-m complex preserved CoP's efficient charge transfer rate, while the improved electrocatalytic surface area was predicted to offer more active sites for HER. The synergistic cooperation of the complex’s constituents resulted in enhanced HER activity and good stability.