Ruthenium doped Ni2P nanosheet arrays for active hydrogen evolution in neutral and alkaline water

Abstract

Efficiently generating hydrogen in neutral solution is essentially important for electrocatalysts toward practical application of water splitting; however, most of the catalysts show promising activity only in acidic or alkaline media. Herein, a surface modulation method is developed via doping Ru onto the surface of a Ni₂P nanosheet array supported on nickel foam (Ru-Ni₂P/NF) to activate the robust hydrogen evolution activity. The Ru species achieve optimized surface chemistry for catalysis, including boosted intrinsic activity, improved catalytic center density, and enhanced kinetics. The as-obtained electrode exhibits Pt-like catalytic activity, as well as good stability in both neutral and alkaline solution. Exploring efficient and wide-pH electrocatalysts by such surface chemistry modulation would be of great value for the development of advanced materials for energy conversion.