One-step synthesis of amorphous NiCoP nanoparticles by electrodeposition as highly efficient electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline solution

Exploring a simple, low-cost preparation method to synthesize excellent catalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline solution is highly meaningful for large-scale electrolysis of water for hydrogen production. Herein, a one-step electrodeposition method with simultaneous electrodeposition and phosphation was proposed to synthesize the three-dimensional NiCoP/carbon cloth (NiCoP/CC) nanoparticles at room temperature on the conductive carbon cloth (CC). The results showed that the NiCoP nanoparticles covered by nanowires had an amorphous structure. The NiCoP/CC electrode exhibited a good catalytic activity in 1.0 M KOH solution. It required only 74, 101, 149 mV overpotential for HER in basic solution to obtain current densities of − 10, − 20, − 50 mA cm−2, respectively, with a corresponding Tafel slope of 89.5 mV dec−1. Furthermore, after 24 h constant voltage test, the current density of NiCoP/CC only showed 2% decay, indicating a good stability. The obtained excellent catalytic activity can be attributed to the amorphous structure, the synergetic effect of Ni and Co, the charge transfer among Ni/Co and P, and nanoparticles in situ grown on carbon cloth. The simple one-step electrodeposition method shows a very promising potential for the preparation of bimetallic phosphides.