Development of efficient catalyst with low-cost, earth-abundant metals for sustainable hydrogen generation is still an intriguing challenge. Doping of cation or anion is regarded as an effective approach for ingenious modulation of chemical composition related to the electrocatalysts for improving their activity. Herein, a ternary Ni(S0.49Se0.51)(2) porous flakes array on carbon fiber cloth (CFC) via simultaneous sulfuration and selenylation of Ni(OH)(2) flakes. Owing to the synergistic effect between Ni, S and Se atoms, high surface area, abundant active site and good conductivity of the Ni(S0.49Se0.51)(2)/CFC, the as-synthesized catalyst requires lower overpotential (113 mV) than pure NiS2/CFC and NiSe2/CFC to drive 10 mA cm(-2) for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in 1.0 M KOH with good sustainability. (C) 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.