Tailoring alloy compositions by glucose towards superior Ni–Cu–C electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction

Developing efficient, economic, and environment-friendly electrocatalysts to meet the industrialized hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) needs is highly desired for dealing with the energy crisis. Under the known premise, how to reasonably control the doping amount of copper greatly influences the structure and is one of the key factors affecting the performance of the catalyst. Herein, a series of Ni–Cu–C electrocatalysts are successfully synthesized through a simple electrodeposition method. The unique dendritic morphology can be obtained by adjusting the different glucose concentrations. DFT simulation reveals that the proper proportion of copper can significantly modulate the H adsorption-free energy ΔG_H∗ It can boost the intrinsic activity of Ni–Cu–C catalysts. NCC-3 delivers an overpotential of 87 mV and 165 mV in alkaline media at the current density of 10 mA cm⁻² and 100 mA cm⁻², respectively and presents outstanding long-term stability for 50 h. Such excellent HER activity stems from a large ECSA area and better electron-transfer ability. The study presents a feasible way to control metal alloy catalysts' composition in the electrodeposition process.