Superior Performances of Electroless-Deposited Ni–P Films Decorated with an Ultralow Content of Pt for Water-Splitting Reactions

The design of highly efficient and low-cost electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is a critical endeavor, especially in alkaline electrolytes. Herein, we report the development of ultralow-amount Pt-decorated Ni–P catalysts on nickel foam substrates (Pt/Ni–P/NF) via a facile electroless deposition of Ni–P alloys subsequently decorated with a very small amount of Pt nanoparticles through a dip-coating procedure. Benefiting from the 3D porous backbone of the NF substrate and from the synergistic effect between Ni–P and Pt, the present Pt/Ni–P/NF catalyst demonstrates superior HER activity compared to most of the state-of-the-art Pt-based electrocatalysts, with a very low overpotential (22 mV at 10 mA cm–2) and Tafel slope (30 mV dec–1) and a high turnover frequency (1.78 s–1) at η = 50 mV. Furthermore, a full alkaline electrolyzer is constructed using Pt/Ni–P/NF as the cathode and undecorated Ni–P as the anode, which can drive overall water splitting with a low potential of 1.64 V at 10 mA cm–2. This work engenders novel possibilities toward the design of advanced ultralow-content Pt electrocatalysts fulfilling both excellent HER performance and low-cost requirements.