Facile synthesis of ordered mesoporous molybdenum carbide electrocatalysts for high-performance hydrogen evolution reaction

In this study, a simple method was designed to prepare ordered mesoporous carbons embedded with molybdenum without any extreme conditions. We prepared three different ordered molybdenum carbide materials with mesoporous structures to explore the influence of the structure of molybdenum-based materials on the HER catalytic efficiency. The ordered mesoporous molybdenum carbide catalysts (CMK-3-MoCx, fCMK-3-MoCx, CMK-8-MoCx) were characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD, nitrogen adsorption-desorption and XPS. The HER is catalyzed efficiently on the three electrocatalysts, fCMK-3-MoCx shows the best HER electro-catalytic performance with a small onset potential of -0.06 V vs. RHE, a low tafel slope of 66 mV dec(-1) and a small over-potential value of 89 mV at 10 mA cm(-2). This excellent performance on HER is due to its high specific surface area and highly ordered mesoporous structure that resulted in excellent proton transport efficiency and high electron transfer rate. Our results provide a new research direction for the application of flat ordered mesoporous structures in catalysis.

Automated summary

A simple method was developed to prepare ordered mesoporous carbons embedded with molybdenum. Three different ordered molybdenum carbide materials with mesoporous structures were prepared to investigate their influence on HER catalytic efficiency. The ordered mesoporous molybdenum carbide catalysts showed excellent HER electro-catalytic performance, with fCMK-3-MoCx exhibiting the best performance. This was attributed to its high specific surface area and highly ordered mesoporous structure, resulting in efficient proton transport and electron transfer.