V-doped porous CoP nanoarrays grown on carbon cloth with optimized electronic structure for the hydrogen evolution reaction

As an efficient, renewable and clean energy, hydrogen is expected to replace traditional fossil fuel energy in the future. Currently, platinum-based materials (Pt) are excellent electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), but their high cost and low natural abundance limit their widespread application. Therefore, it is urgent to develop low-cost, highly efficient and earth-abundant electrocatalysts to replace the precious platinum-based materials. In this study, a Co-based organic framework (ZIF-67) was grown on a flexible substrate carbon cloth (CC), and a V-doped CoP nanoarray (V-CoP/CC) was prepared using a simple in situ ion exchange/phosphating method. Due to its unique porous structure, effective doping of V atoms and the in situ electrode construction, the V-CoP/CC exhibited high electrolytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance, with an overpotential of 98 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm⁻². This work has important theoretical and practical significance for in situ construction of heteroatom-doped CoP electrodes.