Hybrid Porphyrin Covalent–Organic Polymer Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution: A Research-Integrated Undergraduate Experiment

Hydrogen is a promising clean energy carrier, and the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) provides a key platform for studying electrocatalytic water splitting. This laboratory experiment introduces the synthesis and electrocatalytic evaluation of a metalloporphyrin covalent–organic polymer-phosphazene hybrid electrocatalyst (CoTPPCOP@PZSMs) as a model for the HER. Working electrodes are fabricated and characterized by using electrochemical techniques including linear sweep voltammetry, Tafel slope analysis, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Hydrogen gas generated during HER is physically collected using a water-displacement method, enabling the calculation of Faradaic efficiency. The hybrid electrocatalyst exhibits an overpotential of 86 mV at 10 mA cm–2 in 1.0 KOH and outperforms its individual components and many previously reported catalysts, demonstrating how hybrid design enhances HER activity. The experiment highlights the relationship among molecular structure, electron transfer, and electrocatalytic HER performance, providing a concise introduction to contemporary HER research with the COP-based materials.