Search

It is a universal quest to produce molecular hydrogen (H2) from sustainable green routes to diversify the heavy dependence of fossil fuels for energy consumption. Developing earth-abundant electrocatalysts for water electrolysis is a promising method to generate hydrogen via hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). In this work, we strategically promote electron transport and activate the basal planes of MoS2via a thermal hybridization with vertically-aligned hierarchical nickel phosphide Ni5P4-Ni2P (denoted as MoS2/Ni5P4-Ni2P) for HER. The metallic-like Ni5P4-Ni2P foam promotes electron transportation into the MoS2matrix by electron injection due to the difference of their Fermi levels. Moreover, MoS2basal planes are activated by Ni5P4-Ni2P due to phosphorus doping effects, triggering additional actives sites and boosting the overall HER performances. Notably, the HER performance of MoS2/Ni5P4-Ni2P electrode only requires an overpotential of 96 mV to reach a geometric current density of −10 mA cm−2with relatively low Tafel slope of 74 mV dec−1. The catalytic performances can last for at least 22 h at −10 mA cm−2without discernible degradation, indicating the extraordinary long-term operation stability. This work provides insights into the synergistic effects of a hybridized catalyst, which may potentially serve as a next-generation electrocatalyst for efficient water splitting.