Influence of graphitic/amorphous coated carbon on HER activity of low temperature synthesized beta-Mo2C@C nanocomposites

The most economical and sustainable method for commercial scale production of hydrogen is through electrochemical water splitting. Though noble metal free catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) are being developed to make water splitting more efficient, the search of highly efficient cost effective catalyst for HER still remains a challenge. Carbon coated molybdenum carbide composites (beta-Mo2C@C), a noble metal free electrocatalyst is being highly studied substance as potential electrocatalyst for water splitting where presence of graphitic carbon plays important role. Our study indicate that nature of carbon coating on Mo2C surface plays vital role (amorphous/graphitic). In our systematic experiments beta-Mo2C@C was synthesized in an autoclave. The synthesis parameters were varied to get amorphous as well as graphitic coating on Mo2C. The amorphous surface carbon shows better stability of electrocatalyst in acidic medium compared to graphitic coating. The electrochemical double-layer capacitance (EDLC) measurements suggest beta-Mo2C@C as suitable candidate for energy storage applications.