Zn-driven amorphous CoP on MXene-modified Ni foam: phase engineering for efficient hydrogen evolution catalysis

As a clean energy carrier, hydrogen necessitates efficient production via cost-effective, highly active non-noble metal electrocatalysts. Herein, we demonstrate a Zn-doped CoP heterostructure catalyst anchored on MXene-engineered nickel foam (MXene@ZnCoP/NF) through synergistic substrate engineering and compositional modulation. This design achieves exceptional alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity and superior overall water splitting efficiency. In 1.0 M KOH electrolyte, the MXene@ZnCoP/NF heterostructure exhibits exceptional HER performance, achieving a low overpotential of 15 mV at 10 mA cm⁻², 64 mV at 50 mA cm⁻², 214 mV at 500 mA cm⁻², and a Tafel slope of 86.0 mV dec⁻¹, indicative of rapid reaction kinetics. Furthermore, the catalyst demonstrates industrial-grade durability, maintaining stable operation for 65 h at 500 mA cm⁻² without significant degradation. When integrated into a full-cell electrolyzer with RuO₂/NF as the anode (RuO₂/NF ||MXene@ZnCoP/NF), the system requires only 1.53 V to deliver a current density of 10 mA cm⁻², surpassing the performance of the noble metal system Pt-C/NF||RuO₂/NF (1.61 V). This highlights its potential as a cost-effective alternative to noble metal-based electrocatalysts for scalable hydrogen production. The enhanced catalytic performance can be primarily attributed to the synergistic interplay of three key factors: the superior conductivity provided by MXene-engineered NF substrates, the Zn doping-induced crystalline-to-amorphous phase reconstruction, and the morphological transformation from micrometer-scale architectures to nanoscale structures. This study proposes an innovative “substrate–structure–composition” synergistic strategy that establishes a new paradigm for designing highly efficient non-noble metal HER electrocatalysts, thereby propelling the scalable industrial implementation of electrocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen production.

Graphical abstract