Sponge-like nickel phosphide–carbon nanotube hybrid electrodes for efficient hydrogen evolution over a wide pH range

Cost-effective hydrogen production via electrolysis of water requires efficient and durable earth-abundant catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) over a wide pH range. Herein, we report sponge-like nickel phosphide– carbon nanotube (Ni_xP/CNT) hybrid electrodes that were prepared by facile cyclic voltammetric deposition of amorphous Ni_xP catalysts onto the three- dimensional (3D) porous CNT support. These compounds exhibit superior catalytic activity for sustained hydrogen evolution in acidic, neutral, and basic media. In particular, the Ni_xP/CNT electrodes generate cathodic currents of 10 and 100 mA∙cm^-2 at overpotentials of 105 and 226 mV, respectively, in a 1 M phosphate buffer solution (pH = 6.5) with a Tafel slope of 100 mV∙dec^-1; the currents were stable for over 110 h without obvious decay. Our results suggest that the 3D porous CNT electrode supports could serve as a general platform for earth-abundant HER catalysts for the development of highly efficient electrodes for hydrogen production.