Gold-Incorporated Cobalt Phosphide Nanoparticles on Nitrogen-Doped Carbon for Enhanced Hydrogen Evolution Electrocatalysis
Xiaoyan Wang, Fei Yang, Wei Li, Lingya Yi, Bomin Feng, Yixiang Pan, Weihua Hu, Chang Ming Li
Abstract
Transition metal phosphides (TMPs) demonstrate great potential for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysis, but their activities need further improvement. Herein we report a novel Au incorporation strategy to boost the HER catalytic performance of CoP. As a proof of concept, heterostructured Au/CoP nanoparticles dispersed on nitrogen-doped carbon with unique porosity, denoted as Au/CoP@NC-3, are synthesized by thermal treatment of Au-nanoparticle-incorporated ZIF-67 precursor. It shows excellent HER activity as well as good durability in acidic and alkaline condition, respectively, greatly outperforming its Au-free analogue, namely, CoP@NC. In-depth analysis suggests that the improved HER activity of Au/CoP@NC-3 is attributed to the presence of Au nanoparticles which enlarge the electrochemical active surface areas and adjust the electronic structure of active CoP species to enhance the water adsorption and optimize H adsorption for the accelerated HER process.