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• The RuP 4 @CoP/Ti electrocatalyst with acacia-like structure was obtained using a facile method. • The incorporation of Ru can accelerate the charge transfer between Ru, Co, and P. • The RuP 4 @CoP/Ti possesses super activity under either acidic or alkaline solution. • The existence of Ti foil could enhance the electrical conductivity and disperse the active phases. The transition metal phosphate with lower price and rich abundance have a tendency to replace Pt-based catalytic materials for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Nevertheless, for transition metal phosphate based electrocatalyst, the further improvement of the electrocatalytic performance and the deep exploration of the regulation and control mechanism are still bottleneck problems. At present, we use a novel method to prepare the Ti foil supported the CoP acacia-like arrays decorated with RuP 4 nanoparticles composite (RuP 4 @CoP/Ti). The obtained RuP 4 @CoP/Ti possesses excellent electrocatalytic performance, which needs the overpotential of 66.2 mV to reach the current of density of 10 mA cm−2 and has the Tafel slope of 52.6 mV dec−1 in 0.5 M H 2 SO 4. In addition, it requires the overpotential of 36 mV to reach the current of density of 10 mA cm−2 and has Tafel slope of 54.8 mV dec−1 in 1 M KOH. Moreover, the obtained RuP 4 @CoP/Ti also presents outstanding long-term durability under either acidic or alkaline condition. The reason for such excellent properties is due to the unique acacia-like structure, the synergistic effect between CoP and RuP 4 , the existence of Ti foil and the introduction of Ru, which can optimize the electronic structure of Co and P. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]