C₆₀-Decorated nickel-cobalt phosphide as an efficient and robust electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Electrocatalysts are essential for energy conversion technologies like water splitting.
• Developing efficient and stable electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is critical for hydrogen production.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and characterize a novel C60-decorated Ni-Co-P bimetallic phosphide electrocatalyst.
• To evaluate the electrocatalytic performance of the C60-decorated Ni-Co-P composite for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of C60-decorated Ni-Co-P nanoparticles.
• Characterization using Powder X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM).
• Electrochemical testing including cyclic voltammetry, Tafel analysis, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS).

Main Results:

• Synthesized C60-decorated Ni-Co-P nanoparticles (∼4 nm) with structural defects.
• Achieved low onset overpotential (23.8 mV) and Tafel slope (48 mV dec-1) for HER.
• Demonstrated excellent stability over 500 cycles with minimal overpotential increase (η10 from 97 mV to 102 mV).
• EIS confirmed faster charge-transfer and hydrogen-adsorption kinetics compared to C60-free Ni-Co-P.

Conclusions:

• The synthesis of C60-decorated Ni-Co-P composites is feasible.
• The C60-decorated Ni-Co-P composite serves as an efficient and robust platinum-free catalyst for HER.
• This material holds promise for advanced energy conversion applications.