Synergistically engineering ultralow Pt doped FeNi alloy/FeNi phosphide nanoparticles for advanced hydrogen evolution reaction

It remains an immense challenge to design robust electrocatalysts for HER both in acidic and alkaline electrolytes. Herein, we report a partially phosphating of metal-organic frameworks strategy to prepare a hybrid catalyst of FeNi alloy/FeNi phosphide with ultralow doped Pt (only 0.4 atom%). With effectively modulated electronic configurations and unique tunneling effects, the optimal [email protected], P exhibits prominent HER activities with the overpotential of 53 and 52 mV (@10 mA cm−2) in acidic and alkaline media, respectively, as well as superior stability. Noticeably, [email protected], P shows significantly enhanced mass activities (@−0.05 V vs RHE) both in acid and alkaline electrolytes, which are 6.6 and 5.6 times higher than that of commercial Pt/C. Based on high electronegativity of P atoms, the negatively charged phosphorus atoms and positively charged metal atoms work in a cooperative manner as the proton-acceptor and hydride-acceptor centers, respectively, substantially supporting the outstanding catalytic activity of [email protected], P.