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Heteroatom doping, especially with elements of lower electronegativity and smaller atomic radius, can effectively modulate the electronic structure and surface properties of electron materials, facilitating the electrochemical performance of supercapacitors. Herein, we have designed boron-doped NiCoP nanoarrays grown on carbon cloth (B-NCP-CC) for supercapacitor cathode materials using a simple process method combining hydrothermal, calcined phosphating and boronation processes. The introduction of boron, with lower electronegativity (2.04) and smaller atomic radius (0.85 Å) than phosphorus (2.19 and 1.00 Å), induces electron redistribution and shortens the Ni/Co–B bonds, enhancing their redox activity and charge transfer kinetics. The boron doping greatly enables the B-NiCoP-CC-18 (NiCoP-CC borated for 18 h) cathode material to provide a high capacity of 801 C g−1. The assembled B-NiCoP-CC-18‖‖AC hybrid supercapacitor achieves a high energy density of 73.22 W h kg−1 at a power density of 963.8 W kg−1 and retains 90% capacity after 5000 cycles, significantly improving the stability of nickel-based materials. Besides, density functional theory (DFT) calculations further elucidate that the introduction of boron increases the d-band centers of Ni and Co in NiCoP, promoting the conductivity and enhancing the electrochemical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given its superior structure, the abundance of surface functional groups, and low cost, cotton fiber filtration paper can be used as the support for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction catalysts (OER) instead of copper foam (CF), nickel foam (NF), or carbon cloth (CC). Herein, the chemical plating method was used to create thin self-supporting electrodes based on cotton fiber filtration paper (FP). The Co-Ni-P amorphous nanospheres can be uniformly dispersed on the self-supporting FP due to its porous structure and oxygen functional groups. The Co-Ni-P/FP electrode has an overpotential as low as 125 mV for HER and 320 mV for OER at the current density of 10 mA cm−2. Additionally, according to density functional theory (DFT) calculations, the Co atom added to the Ni-P nanosphere can lead to considerably more charge accumulation around the Co and Ni active sites, which greatly encourages the HER and OER processes. The novel porous support, FP, provides a fresh way the preparation of self-supporting electrodes. [Display omitted] • Filter paper is used to prepare the self-supporting electrode as the substrate. • The preparation method is simple and the properties are stable. • Rich oxygen-containing functional groups of FP promote deposition and dispersion. • Explore the excellent electrochemical performance of amorphous Co-Ni-P/FP by DFT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]