Direct synthesis of parallel doped N-MoP/N-CNT as highly active hydrogen evolution reaction catalyst

Abstract

Doped phosphide is promising in earth-abundant element based catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Here we employ ammonium hypophosphite (NH 4 H 2 PO 2 ) to synthesize a novel parallel doped catalyst, nitrogen doped molybdenum phosphide nanoparticles (NPs) supported on nitrogen doped carbon nanotubes (N-MoP/N-CNTs). The NH 4 H 2 PO 2 as a bifunctional agent severs as both phosphidation agent and nitrogen source, which makes the synthetic route simple and efficient. The as-obtained parallel doped N-MoP/N-CNTs show an overpotential of 103±5 mV at 10 mA cm −2 , which is 140 mV lower than that of MoP NPs. The enhanced HER performance is attributed to the electronic effect by doped MoP and CNTs supports. This work provides a facile route to synthesize doped phosphides for the potential applications in hydrogen energy.