Cauliflower-like Co-B-P ternary catalyst loaded on graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets with synergistically enhanced electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction

The design of advanced noble -metal -free electrocatalysts with high activity and good stability for the hydrogen evolution process (HER) is both appealing and challenging. Herein, cauliflower -like Co-B-P nanoparticles anchored on multi -layered g-C3N4 nanosheets (Co-B-P/g-C3N4) are fabricated by a facile electroless deposition method at room temperature. The effect of P/B ratios on electrocatalytic performance of ternary Co-B-P/g-C3N4 catalysts for HER is fully investigated in 1.0 M KOH solution. Due to both the synergetic effect among P, B and Co, and the support of multi -layered g-C3N4 nanosheets, ternary Co-B-P/g-C3N4 catalyst exhibits satisfactory electrocatalytic HER performances. The onset overpotential for the best ternary Co-B-P/g-C3N4 catalyst is only 93 mV, whereas it is 173 mV for binary Co-B/g-C3N4 catalyst. When current density achieves 10 mA cm -2 and 40 mA cm -2, the required overpotentials for ternary Co-B-P/g-C3N4 catalyst are 174 mV and 226 mV, respectively, which are much lower than those of binary Co-B/g-C3N4 catalyst (261 mV and 327 mV). Furthermore, the stability test indicates that ternary Co-B-P/g-C3N4 catalyst possesses a favorable long-term electrochemical stability under alkaline condition. The satisfactory electrocatalytic performances of asprepared ternary Co-B-P/g-C3N4 catalyst suggest that it is a promising candidate to substitute noble -metal based catalysts for HER.