Facile synthesis of sheet-shaped Co2P grown on carbon cloth as a high-performance electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction

Here, we demonstrate the synthesis of sheet-shaped Co 2 P grown on carbon cloth (sheet-shaped Co 2 P-CC) through a facile route. Electrochemical measurements indicated that sheet-shaped Co 2 P-CC with a loading of 0.6 mg cm −2 Co 2 P (denoted Co 2 P-CC-0.6) exhibits exceptional electrocatalytic activity in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), with an overpotential of 94 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm −2 and a small Tafel slope of 80 mV decade −1 in 1 M KOH. Similarly, sheet-shaped Co 2 P-CC-0.6 was also found to be an excellent electrocatalyst for the HER in 0.5 M H 2 SO 4 and in 0.5 M phosphate buffer solution (PBS), with overpotentials of 95 and 231 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm −2 , respectively. Sheet-shaped Co 2 P has a large surface area, meaning that it can provide a relatively large number of active sites on its surface, and CC is an highly conductive substrate that, when used in conjunction with Co 2 P, can enhance the conductivity of the electrocatalyst. These outstanding results show that sheet-shaped Co 2 P-CC could be an excellent candidate for a highly efficient electrocatalyst.