Nitrogen-Doped CoP-Co₂P-Supported Ru with Interconnected Channels through a Microwave Quasi-Solid Approach for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction over a Wide pH Range

Abstract

Transition-metal phosphides (TMPs) have attracted extensive attention in energy-related fields, especially for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, it is imperative to develop a facile and time-consuming approach to prepare metal phosphides with satisfactory catalytic performance. Herein, nitrogen-doped CoP-Co 2 P decorated with Ru (Ru/N-CoP-Co 2 P) is synthesized (Ru/N-CoP-Co 2 P) through a hydrothermal route and following an ultrafast and simple microwave avenue within 20 s. The achieved Ru/N-CoP-Co 2 P possesses an interconnected porous morphology to expose abundant active sites and accelerate the mass transport. Moreover, N doping and Ru-supported decorated Ru/N-CoP-Co 2 P also play a key role in promoting the electrocatalytic activity. Therefore, the as-designed Ru/N-CoP-Co 2 P presents good catalytic performance for the HER in a wide pH range. Ru/N-CoP-Co 2 P merely needs overpotentials of 63, 100, and 65 mV to obtain 10 mA cm −2 in acidic, alkaline, and seawater electrolytes. This research provides a novel and efficient strategy for the synthesis of TMPs with highly efficient catalytic activity.