Urchin-like CoP nanomaterial as an electrocatalyst for efficient hydrogen evolution reaction

The morphology and structure of the electrocatalysts are important factors affecting their performance for electrochemical splitting water into hydrogen. Herein, the urchin-like CoP nanomaterials with the large specific surface area (SSA) were fabricated through the solvothermal process and the solid-gas reaction for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The resulting CoP nanomaterial with a diameter of approximately 4 mu m was assembled by the nanowires with a length of about 10 nm. The excellent performance is accessible for HER with a small overpotential of 130 mV and a low Tafel slope of 52 mV/decade in a 0.5 M H2SO4 aqueous solution. Especially, the resulting urchin-like CoP nanomaterials with a large SSA and electric double-layer capacitance lower the electrochemical impedance and accelerate the electron transfer, endowing the excellent performance for HER process.