B-doping-induced amorphization of LDH for large-current-density hydrogen evolution reaction

Developing a platinum-free hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalyst that can steadily drive a large current density is of great significance in a commercially electrochemical water splitting technology. Herein, we show that the B-doping-induced amorphization of crystalline layered double hydroxide (LDH) activates it as an extremely efficient HER catalyst. The amorphous B-incorporated nickel-cobalt LDH supported on the nickel foam (A-NiCo LDH/NF) can yield large current densities at small overpotentials (100 mA cm–2 at 151 mV, 500 mA cm–2 at 286 mV, and 1000 mA cm–2 at 381 mV) with high durability in alkaline medium even after 72 h, which is even better than commercial platinum. This work may provide a promising way for structure tuning of transition metal LDH to effectively boost HER efficiency towards practical water electrolysis.