Modifying candle soot with FeP nanoparticles into high-performance and cost-effective catalysts for the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction.

Developing inexpensive and highly efficient non-precious-metal electrocatalysts has been proposed as a promising alternative to platinum-based catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, we report novel FeP NPs supported on inexpensive and available candle soot (FeP-CS) derived from Fe3O4-CS hybrid precursors obtained after a phosphidation reaction. As HER electrocatalysts, the FeP-CS hybrids exhibit high electrocatalytic ability for HER with a Tafel slope of 58 mV dec(-1), a low onset overpotential of 38 mV, a large exchange current density of 2.2 × 10(-1) mA cm(-2) and an overpotential of 112 mV to obtain a current of 10 mA cm(-2). The present work shows significant advance in designing and developing non-precious-metal electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction.