PANI/ Ni2P hybrid electrocatalysts towards substantially enhance performance through protonated amino groups process in acid media

A novel PANI/Ni 2 P hybrid electrocatalyst with enhanced performance in hydrogen evolution reaction was explored. The current densities of the PANI/Ni 2 P hybrid electrocatalyst could achieve 10 mA cm −2 under much lower overpotential of 83 mV with a small Tafel slope of 69 mV dec −1 . This was due to the fact that nitrogen atoms in polyaniline had more isolated electrons, which could capture protons from hydrated ions to form protonated amino groups, thus accelerating the kinetics process of hydrogen evolution. Moreover, the current densities of the PANI/Ni 2 P hybrid electrocatalysts was only slightly attenuated after 5000 cycles, showing good stability and application potential of the PANI/Ni 2 P hybrid electrocatalysts. The effect of the thickness of the polyaniline layer on the performance of the PANI/Ni 2 P hybrid catalyst was fully discussed. This work also provided a new strategy to increase the catalytic activity of non-noble metal catalysts.