Rational design of free-standing 3D Cu-doped NiS@Ni2P/NF nanosheet arrays for hydrogen evolution reaction

Using low cost and high efficiency non-precious bimetallic phosphosulphide as electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is not only convenient but also environment-friendly for industrial production. Therefore, we propose a simple and efficient method to prepare a series of Cu-doped bimetallic phosphosulphide nanosheet arrays on nickel foam (CuNiS@Ni2P/NF). The CuNiS@Ni2P/NF exhibits the superior HER performance with appropriate doping amount of Cu. It just needs a potential of 144 mV to obtain the current density of 10 mA cm(-2) in 1.0 M KOH, which is smaller than that of CuNiS@Ni2P/NF-0.25 (206 mV) and CuNiS@Ni2P/NF-0.125 (219 mV). The excellent HER performance of CuNiS@Ni2P/NF nanosheet arrays can be ascribed to: (i) the moderate Cudoped effectively optimized the electronic structure and morphology of the electrocatalyst; (ii) typical nanosheet arrays structures exposing more active sites; (iii) the high immanent activity excited by the multi-component synergy. (C) 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC.