3D Se-doped NiCoP nanoarrays on carbon cloth for efficient alkaline hydrogen evolution

The exploration of stable and highly efficient alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts is imperative for alkaline water splitting. Herein, Se-doped NiCoP with hierarchical nanoarray structures directly grown on carbon cloth (Se-NiCoP/CC) was prepared by hydrothermal reaction and phosphorization/selenization process. The experimental results reveal that Se doping could increase the electrochemical active sites and alter the electronic structure of NiCoP. The optimized Se-NiCoP/CC electrode exhibits outstanding HER activity in alkaline electrolyte, which only needs a low overpotential of 79 mV at the current density of 10 mA/cm2. When serving as anode and cathode electrode simultaneously, the Se-NiCoP/CC electrodes achieve current density of 50 mA/cm2 at a low voltage of only 1.62 V. This work provides a feasible way to rationally design high active HER electrocatalysts.