Self-supported NiCoP/nanoporous copper as highly active electrodes for hydrogen evolution reaction

Abstract Most of nanoparticles catalyst for hydrogen evolution reactions (HER) exhibit low electrocatalytic activity due to the use of binders. Considering the synergistic effect of high activity of NiCoP and good conductivity of the nanoporous copper (NPC), and we report self-supporting NiCoP/NPC composites by electrochemical depositing NiCoP micro-spheres on NPC. The NPC substrate leads to the uniform nucleation of NiCoP micro-spheres and the high resistance against aggregation. As a result, the cost-effective NiCoP/NPC composites possess promising HER performance, with a low overpotential of 80 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and Tafel slop of 48.9 mV dec−1 in 1 M KOH.