Embedding Co2P nanoparticles into N&P co-doped carbon fibers for hydrogen evolution reaction and supercapacitor

Abstract The demands for highly efficient and low-cost electrochemically active materials are still urgent needs for the fields of electro-catalysis and supercapacitor. Herein, a facile strategy for preparing high-efficient bi-functional electrode material was reported. The electrode material was prepared through embedding Co2P nanoparticles in the binary co-doped carbon nanofibers (Co2P@N&P-CNFs). This unique structure can effectively prevent the Co2P from detaching and provide abundant active sites. Materials prepared in this work showed the superior hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance with overpotential of 192 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 and remarkable stability for 20 h. Moreover, the asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) was fabricated using the Co2P@N&P-CNFs as the positive electrode material and carbon nanofibers (CNFs) as the negative electrode material, which shows an outstanding cycle stability (91.5% of the initial capacitance is retained throughout 10,000 charge-discharge tests) and a high E of 22.31 Wh kg−1 at the P of 225.02 W kg−1 at 0.3 A g−1. This work offers an effective route in designing bi-functional active materials for HER and supercapacitor.