Enhancing hydrogen electrocatalytic oxidation on Ni3N/MoO2 in-plane heterostructures in alkaline solution

Nickel (Ni)-based materials act as one of the most promising candidates as platinum-group-metal-free (PGM-free) electrocatalysts for hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) in alkaline solution. Nevertheless, the electrocatalytic activity of pure Ni is significantly limited due to the sluggish kinetics under alkaline condition. To accelerate the kinetics, constructing heterostructures and nitride structures have been developed as two representative strategies. Here, we combined the two methods and presented a facile synthesis of the sheet-like Ni3N/MoO2 in-plane heterostructures for enhanced HOR in alkaline electrolytes. Relative to Ni or Ni3N, the Ni3N/MoO2 in-plane heterostructures exhibited a significantly increased mass activity by 8.6-fold or 4.4-fold, respectively. Mechanistic studies revealed that the enhanced activity of Ni3N/MoO2 could be attributed to the weakened hydrogen adsorption and strengthened hydroxyl adsorption. This work provides a facile approach to design high-efficiency catalysts for hydrogen-oxidation catalysis and beyond. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Nickel-based materials have great potential as platinum-group-metal-free electrocatalysts for hydrogen oxidation reaction in alkaline solution. However, the sluggish kinetics limited their electrocatalytic activity. To accelerate the kinetics, heterostructures and nitride structures have been developed. In this study, the authors combined these two methods to synthesize sheet-like Ni3N/MoO2 in-plane heterostructures, which showed significantly enhanced activity for hydrogen oxidation reaction in alkaline electrolytes.