An Efficient Electrocatalyst by Electroless Cobalt-Nickel-Phosphorus Alloy Plating on Three-Dimensional Graphene for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

The development of earth-abundant, efficient, and stable electrocatalysts is very important for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in an alkaline electrolyte. An efficient electrocatalyst was fabricated via the electroless plating of well-dispersed Co-Ni-P alloy particles on three-dimensional graphene using nickel foam as the template (Co-Ni-P/rGO/NF). Co-Ni-P/rGO/NF exhibited excellent HER activity with a low overpotential of 65 mV and a small Tafel slope of 63 mV dec−1 at a current density of 10 mA cm−2. This catalyst also showed prominent electrochemical durability (over more than 10 h) in an alkaline electrolyte. Therefore, this study provides a facile design for non-noble-metal electrocatalysts, which can be used in future applications to replace Pt-based electrocatalysts.