Stress-Transfer-Induced In Situ Formation of Ultrathin Nickel Phosphide Nanosheets for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution

Ultrathin two-dimensional (2D) nanostructures have attracted increasing research interest for energy storage and conversion. However, tackling the key problem of lattice mismatch inducing the instability of ulreathin nanostructures during phase transformations is still a critical challenge. Herein, we describe a facile and scalable strategy for the growth of ultrathin nickel phosphide (Ni2P) nanosheets (NSs) with exposed (001) facets. We show that single-layer functionalized graphene with residual oxygen-containing groups and a large lateral size contributes to reducing the lattice strain during phosphorization. The resulting nanostructure exhibits remarkable hydrogen evolution activity and good stability under alkaline conditions. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim