Ni3P-Ni heterostructure electrocatalyst for alkaline hydrogen evolution

• Published in: Journal of alloys and compounds Vol. 921; p. 166204
• Main Authors: Li, Di, Zhang, Zhi-Fang, Yang, Zhi-Yun, Wu, Wan-Ying, Zhang, Mao-Hui, Yang, Tian-Rang, Zhang, Quan-Sheng, Xie, Jing-Ying
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lausanne Elsevier B.V 15.11.2022; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Acid picking; Carbon nanotubes; Catalytic activity; Electrocatalyst; Electrocatalysts; Electrodes; Heterostructures; Hydrogen evolution reaction; Hydrogen evolution reactions; Hydrogen production; Ni3P-Ni heterostructure; Phase composition; Pickling; Hydrogen evolution reaction; Electrocatalyst; Ni3P-Ni heterostructure; Acid picking
• ISSN: 0925-8388; 1873-4669
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2022.166204

Highly active and stable electrocatalysts at low cost for hydrogen evolution reaction are essential for large scale hydrogen production. The Ni3P-Ni heterostructure confined in 3D networks of carbon nanotube (CNT) has been successfully prepared as the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrode. The morphology and phase composition of Ni3P-Ni heterostructure are tunable by varying the acid pickling time. The Ni3P-Ni/CNT composite electrode with optimized Ni:Ni3P ratio of 22.29 wt% demonstrate high catalytic activity and excellent stability for HER. It demonstrates a comparable HER activity to the standard Pt electrode in alkaline solution, i.e., overpotentials of 116 vs 67 mV at 10 mA·cm−2 and Tafel slops of 59 vs 37 mV·dec−1. No degradation is observed after 1000 cyclic voltammetry (CV) cycles or 50 h operation under constant 0.3 V overpotential. •Pickling affects the morphology of heterogeneous structure and the content of Ni.•The Ni3P-Ni heterostructure was anchored to the carbon nanotube network by ball milling.•The electrode was prepared by mixing with PTFE and pressing.•The results show that Ni3P-Ni/CNT electrode has the best hydrogen evolution activity when the Ni/Ni3P ratio is 22.29 %.