The electrochemical water splitting reaction offers an attractive approach to generate hydrogen fuels as green and renewable energy, in helping ease the global warming and energy crisis, working as a clean energy carrier. In this study, we present the sprout-shaped Mo-doped CoP (denoted CP) as a catalyst for efficient water splitting electrode under alkaline environment. The electrode possesses a unique nanoarray type ‘pillar’ and microscale ‘tip’ structure, which promotes high hydrophilicity and effective gas bubble release, hence achieving a future goal of highly efficient water splitting device for practical use. For both hydrogen and oxygen evolution reaction (HER and OER), the electrode shows remarkable catalytic activity together with reliable stability in alkaline solution, which makes CP a promising electrocatalyst to date. By investigating the gas releasing efficiency regarding various nano/microstructured electrodes, as-prepared CP surpasses the compared samples, indicating maximized nano/microstructures specialized for gas evolution electrode. When the CP performed as an overall water splitting electrode, only 1.49 V of overpotential is needed to achieve the current density of 10 mA·cm^-2 and maintained 10 and 200 mA·cm^-2 for over 35 h with little degradation of catalytic activity. This work would give inspiration to many investigators who work on optimizing structures of transition metal-based nanomaterials, promoting their applications in other renewable energy options.

电化学水分解反应提供了一种有吸引力的方法来生产氢燃料作为绿色和可再生能源，从而有助于缓解全球变暖和能源危机，并充当清洁能源的载体。在这项研究中，我们提出了发芽状的Mo掺杂的CoP（表示为CP）作为碱性环境下高效水分解电极的催化剂。该电极具有独特的纳米阵列类型的“柱状”和微米级的“尖端”结构，可促进高亲水性和有效的气泡释放，从而实现了实用化高效分水装置的未来目标。对于氢和氧的放出反应（HER和OER），该电极均显示出显着的催化活性以及在碱性溶液中的可靠稳定性，这使CP成为迄今为止有希望的电催化剂。通过研究各种纳米/微结构电极的气体释放效率，所制备的CP超过了比较样品，表明专门用于气体逸出电极的纳米/微结构最大化。当CP用作整体的水分解电极时，只需1.49 V的过电位即可达到10 mA·cm的电流密度^-2并保持10和200 mA·cm ^-2超过35小时，而催化活性几乎没有下降。这项工作将为许多研究人员提供灵感，他们致力于优化过渡金属基纳米材料的结构，促进其在其他可再生能源选择中的应用。