Ru decorated Co nanoparticles supported by N-doped carbon sheet implements Pt-like hydrogen evolution performance in wide pH range

[Display omitted] •The Ru/Co@NC catalyst was synthesized via a facile and low-cost strategy.•The Ru/Co@NC shows excellent catalytic activity (η10 = 10 mV, 1.0 M KOH) and stability for HER in Wide pH Range.•The experiment and DFT results show that Co-Ru interfacial structure boost the HER activity. Development of high-performance pH-universal electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is a vital step towards hydrogen economy but remains a major challenge. Herein, the Ru decorated Co nanoparticles supported by N-doped carbon sheets (Ru/Co@NC) are prepared by galvanic exchange reaction and display a remarkable performance for HER. In the 1.0 M KOH, 0.01 M PBS and 0.5 M H2SO4, respectively, Ru/Co@NC shows low overpotentials of 10, 283 and 50 mV at the current density of 10 mA cm−2, comparable to benchmark Pt/C (23, 289 and 37 mV). Furthermore, deep experimental researches and DFT calculations indicate that the Ru-Co heterostructure shows more suitable energy of H2O* dissociation and H* adsorption compared to Ru and Co, which can significantly improve the HER activity. Besides excellent activity, in a wide pH range, the Ru/Co@NC also exhibits good stability with negligible current loss after a long-time HER test (30 h). This work may provide ponderable strategies for developing an efficient pH-universal HER electrocatalyst.