Cactus-like NC/CoxP electrode enables efficient and stable hydrogen evolution for saline water splitting

Designing efficient and robust catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is imperative for saline water electrolysis technology. A catalyst composed of CoxP nanowires array with N-doped carbon nanosheets (NC) was fabricated on Ni foam (NF) by an in -situ growth strategy. The material is designated as NC/CoxP@NF. In the preparation process, Co(OH)2 nanowires were transformed into a metal organic framework of cobalt (ZIF -67) on NF by the dissolution -coordination of endogenous Co2+ and 2-methylimidazole. The resulting cactus -like microstructure gives NC/CoxP@NF abundant exposed active sites and ion transport channels, which improve the HER catalytic reaction kinetics. Furthermore, the interconnected alternating nanowires and free -standing nanosheets in NC/CoxP@NF improve its structural stability, and the formation of surface polyanions (phosphate) and a NC nanosheet protective layer improve the anti -corrosive properties of catalysts. Thus, the NC/CoxP@NF has an excellent performance, requiring overpotentials of 107 and 133 mV for HER to achieve 10 mA cm-2 in 1.0 mol L-1 KOH and 1.0 mol L-1 KOH + 0.5 mol L-1 NaCl, respectively. This in -situ transformation strategy is a new way of constructing highly-efficient HER catalysts for saline water electrolysis.