Fluoride-incorporated cobalt-based electrocatalyst towards enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction

Abstract

We report an electrocatalyst, Co bases (metallic Co and Co(OH)₂) with fluoride-incorporated CoO coating on the surface of (CoO–F/Co), was synthesized by the electro-deposition method. The porous network architecture of CoO–F/Co on the glassy carbon electrode exhibited an ultra-low overpotential of 15 mV, achieving the geometric current density of 10 mA cm⁻² in 1.0 M KOH, which were comparable with the HER performance of numerous reported noble metal electrocatalysts. It is demonstrated that fluoride incorporation improved the electrodeposition particle size, electronic density, conductivity and hydrophilicity of CoO–F/Co the HER performance.