Sea urchin-like CoTe-CoP heterostructure catalyst for efficient hydrogen evolution in all-pH range

The development of robust and pH-adaptable hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts is of great significance to achieve a mass-scale hydrogen production. The interface engineering is one of the most effective strategies due to its unique properties. Herein, the sea urchin-like heterostructure catalyst CoTe-CoP/NF is constructed successfully. The synergy of CoTe and CoP not only optimizes the electronic structure and exposes more active sites, but also effectively improves the hydrophilicity and aerophobicity of the catalyst. Meanwhile, density functional theory calculations further unveil that the interaction between CoTe and CoP efficiently reduces the dissociation energy barrier of water, and simultaneously enhances H* adsorption. All these results endow CoTe-CoP/NF excellent HER performance and catalytic stability at full pH range. The CoTe-CoP/NF electrode only needs 51, 53, and 75 mV overpotentials at 10 mA cm⁻² for HER in acidic, alkaline, and neutral media, respectively. In short, this work provides an interface engineering strategy to construct high-performance HER catalysts in all-pH range. (Figure presented.)