Al, P-co-doping and interface engineering synergistically boost the electrocatalytic performance of WS/NiS/NiS nanosheet heterostructure for efficient hydrogen evolution reaction.

The fabrication of earth-abundant electrocatalysts capable of facilitating hydrogen evolution reactions (HER) is essential for creating sustainable hydrogen fuel by water splitting. Here, we present a one-pot hydrothermal approach for producing aluminum and phosphorus co-doped NiS/NiS/WS heterostructure hybrid frameworks on nickel foam. The optimal Al and Al, P/NiWS-b@NF catalyst exhibits high HER activity with overpotentials of 139 and 227 mV at current densities of 10 and 50 mA cm, respectively, thanks to the synergistic effect of the various constituents of the catalyst. What is more, it also exhibits a promising Tafel slope of 124 mV dec and is electrocatalytically durable for 10 hours in 0.5 M HSO solution. The high HER activity of Al, P/NiWS-b@NF could be explained by the large number of active sites of the hierarchical heterostructure and electron effects produced by the combination of interfacial and aluminum and phosphorus doping.