▎ 摘　　要

Ni-based phosphides are a kind of promising electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, the catalytic activity of phosphides still needs further improvement. Herein, with the in-corporation of Co, highly dispersed spherical NiCoP supported on graphene nanosheets (NiCoP/GR) as HER catalyst was successfully prepared by the simple impregnation and phosphorization method. The highly -dispersed morphology and the synergetic interaction between NiCo bimetal endow the as-prepared NiCoP/ GR with high catalytic performance for HER. When the current density is 10 mA cm(-2) in 0.5 M H2SO4, the as-prepared NiCoP/GR exhibited a low overpotential of 195 mV, and the Tafel slope was only 66.4 mV dec(-1). Furthermore, the density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the low activation barrier of NiCoP/GR can be ascribed to the adjustment of electronic structure. As a result, the HER catalytic performance of NiCoP/GR is significantly enhanced by electronic structure adjustment. This work provides a new approach for introducing multiple metal elements and graphene support material with unique properties to boost the catalytic performance of transition metal phosphide catalysts. (c) 2022 Published by Elsevier B.V.