Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube supported iron phosphide nanocomposites for highly active electrocatalysis of the hydrogen evolution reaction

Designng efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalyst made from earth-abundant elements is essential to the development of water-splitting devices. In this communication, we described our recent effort to develop N-doped carbon nanotube supported FeP nanocomposites (FeP/NCNT) for HER. Experiments demonstrated that the FeP/NCNT is highly active toward the HER with onset overpotential of 66 mV, a Tafel slope of 59 mV dec−1, and a Faradaic efficiency close to 100% in acidic solutions. It needs overpotentials of 113 and 195 mV to afford current densities of 10 and 100 mA cm−2, respectively.