Mo-Doped Cobalt Phosphide Nanosheets for Efficient Hydrogen Generation in an Alkaline Media

The development of high-active, low-cost, and robust electrocatalysts is vitally important for electrocatalytic water splitting. Herein, Mo-doped cobalt phosphide (Mo-CoP) nanosheets on carbon cloth are successfully prepared and evaluated for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalyst. The Mo-CoP catalyst displays an excellent electrocatalytic activity and stability toward HER in 1 m KOH solution. Relatively low overpotentials of 49 and 120 mV are required to reach the current densities of 10 and 100 mA cm⁻², respectively. Moreover, the Mo-CoP catalyst shows an exceptional stability with 24 h operation. The origin of improvement can be ascribed to Mo doping, which probably results in more active sites, higher electrical conductivity, and faster mass transfer. This work demonstrates a promising electrocatalyst for water electrolysis in an alkaline media and opens new possibilities for exploring water-splitting catalysts.