Wide pH range electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution using molybdenum phosphide nanoparticles uniformly anchored on porous carbon cloth

The development of efficient and inexpensive electrocatalysts is regarded as an urgent concern in electrochemical water-splitting system. Herein, we propose a novel strategy for the fabrication of molybdenum phosphide nanoparticles (MoP NPs) anchored on porous carbon cloth (MoP@PCC) as a noble metal–free electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Benefiting from the thin and uniform coating of ultrafine molybdenum dioxide (MoO2) NPs on PCC, less-aggregated MoP NPs can be formed on PCC after thermal phosphidation, resulting in an efficient performance for HER over a wide pH range. Particularly, MoP@PCC exhibited good electrocatalytic activities in alkaline and neutral solutions with low overpotentials of 122 and 160 mV at a current density of −10 mA cm−2, respectively. Additionally, MoP@PCC exhibited long-term stability and durability with continuous 10,000 cyclic voltammetry (CV) cycles and chronopotentiometric operation over 50 h, both in alkaline and neutral solutions.