摘要
High-performance electrocatalysts for water splitting at all pH values have attracted considerable interest in the field of sustainable hydrogen evolution. Herein, we report an efficient electrocatalyst with a nanocrystalline cobalt phosphide （COP） network for water splitting in the pH range of 0-14. The novel flexible electrocatalyst is derived from a desirable nanocrystalline CoP network grown on a conductive Hastelloy belt. This kind of self-supported CoP network is directly used as an electrocatalytic cathode for hydrogen evolution. The nanocrystalline network structure results in superior performance with a low onset overpotential of N45 mV over a broad pH range of 0 to 14 and affords a catalytic current density of 100 mA-cm 2 even in neutral media. The CoP network exhibits excellent catalytic properties not only at extreme pH values （0 and 14） but also in neutral media （pH = 7）, which is comparable to the behavior of state-of-the-art platinum-based metals. The system exhibits an excellent flexible property and maintains remarkable catalytic stability during continuous 100-h-long electrolysis even after 100 cycles of bending/extending from 100° to 250°.
High-performance electrocatalysts for water splitting at all pH values have attracted considerable interest in the field of sustainable hydrogen evolution. Herein, we report an efficient electrocatalyst with a nanocrystalline cobalt phosphide （COP） network for water splitting in the pH range of 0-14. The novel flexible electrocatalyst is derived from a desirable nanocrystalline CoP network grown on a conductive Hastelloy belt. This kind of self-supported CoP network is directly used as an electrocatalytic cathode for hydrogen evolution. The nanocrystalline network structure results in superior performance with a low onset overpotential of N45 mV over a broad pH range of 0 to 14 and affords a catalytic current density of 100 mA-cm 2 even in neutral media. The CoP network exhibits excellent catalytic properties not only at extreme pH values （0 and 14） but also in neutral media （pH = 7）, which is comparable to the behavior of state-of-the-art platinum-based metals. The system exhibits an excellent flexible property and maintains remarkable catalytic stability during continuous 100-h-long electrolysis even after 100 cycles of bending/extending from 100° to 250°.
基金
We gratefully acknowledge the support from the National Basic Research Program of China （No. 2015CB358600）, National Natural Science Foundation of China （No. 21527805）, the Excellent Young Scholar Fund from National Natural Science Foundation of China （No. 21422103）, Jiangsu Fund for Distinguished Young Scientist （No. BK20140010）, the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province （No. BK20151228）,the Natural Science Foundation in High Education of Jiangsu Province （No. 16KJB430024）, and Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education （No. 20133201120028）.
