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Updated: Dec 25, 2025

Synthesis of Metal Nanoparticles Supported on Carbon Nanotube with Doped Co and N Atoms and its Catalytic Applications in Hydrogen Production
Published on: December 6, 2021
Gold-Incorporated Cobalt Phosphide Nanoparticles on Nitrogen-Doped Carbon for Enhanced Hydrogen Evolution
Xiaoyan Wang1, Yang Fei2, Wei Li1
1Institute for Clean Energy and Advanced Materials, School of Materials & Energy; Chongqing Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials and Technologies of Clean Energies, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
Abstract:
Transition metal phosphides (TMPs) demonstrate great potential for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysis, but their activities need further improvement. Herein we report a novel Au incorporation strategy to boost the HER catalytic performance of CoP. As a proof of concept, heterostructured Au/CoP nanoparticles dispersed on nitrogen-doped carbon with unique porosity, denoted as Au/CoP@NC-3, are synthesized by thermal treatment of Au-nanoparticle-incorporated ZIF-67 precursor. It shows excellent HER activity as well as good durability in acidic and alkaline condition, respectively, greatly outperforming its Au-free analogue, namely, CoP@NC. In-depth analysis suggests that the improved HER activity of Au/CoP@NC-3 is attributed to the presence of Au nanoparticles which enlarge the electrochemical active surface areas and adjust the electronic structure of active CoP species to enhance the water adsorption and optimize H adsorption for the accelerated HER process.

