Transition metal phosphides (TMPs) have recently emerged as promising hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalytic alternatives to platinum. Among them, molybdenum phosphide (MoP) has attracted extensive attention due to its high electrical conductivity, good stability, and Pt-like electronic structure; however, there is no systematic comparison of its different colloidal synthetic routes. This study systematically compares two colloidal synthetic methods, one-pot and two-step, for amorphous MoP and the associated morphological changes during their reaction time. The amorphous MoP nanoparticles synthesized via the two-step method within 4 h exhibited the highest HER performance with an overpotential of 177 mV in 0.50 M H2SO4 for a current density of −10 mA cm−2; this might be due to their highly developed Mo-P bondings revealed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis. Thus, this work demonstrates that the HER catalytic performance of MoP can be significantly influenced by its synthetic method and reaction time.

中文翻译：

---

用于析氢反应催化剂的无定形磷化钼纳米颗粒的胶体合成方法

过渡金属磷化物 (TMP) 最近已成为铂的有前途的析氢反应 (HER) 催化替代品。其中，磷化钼（MoP）因其高导电性、良好的稳定性和类Pt电子结构而受到广泛关注；然而，对其不同的胶体合成路线没有系统的比较。本研究系统地比较了两种胶体合成方法，一锅法和两步法，用于无定形 MoP 及其反应期间相关的形态变化。在 4 小时内通过两步法合成的无定形 MoP 纳米粒子表现出最高的 HER 性能，在 -10 mA cm-2 的电流密度下，在 0.50 M H2SO4 中的过电位为 177 mV；这可能是由于 X 射线光电子能谱分析揭示了它们高度发达的 Mo-P 键。因此，这项工作表明，MoP 的 HER 催化性能会受到其合成方法和反应时间的显着影响。