Tuning the electronic structure of NiCoP arrays through V doping for pH-universal hydrogen evolution reaction electrocatalyst

The exploration of cost-effective,high-performance,and stable electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction （HER） over wide p H range （0–14） is of paramount importance for future renewable energy conversion technologies.Regulation of electronic structure through doping vanadium atoms is a feasible construction strategy to enhance catalytic activities,electron transfer capability,and stability of the HER electrode.Herein,V-doped NiCoP nanosheets on carbon fiber paper （CFP）(denoted as Vx-NiCoP/CFP) were constructed by doping V modulation on NiCoP nanosheets on CFP and used for pH-universal HER.Benefiting from the abundant catalytic sites and optimized hydrogen binding thermodynamics the resultant V15-NiCoP/CFP demonstrates a significantly improved HER catalytic activity,requiring overpotentials of 46.5,52.4,and 85.3 mV to reach a current density of 10mA·cm–2in 1 mol·L–1KOH,0.5 mol·L–1H2SO4,and 1mol·L–1phosphate buffer solution （PBS） electrolytes respectively.This proposed cation-doping strategy provides a new inspiration to rationally enhance or design new-type nonprecious metal-based,highly efficient,and pH-universal electrocatalysts for various energy conversion systems.