Self-Supported Vanadium Carbide by an Electropolymerization-Assisted Method for Efficient Hydrogen Production

Exploring efficient electrodes toward the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) remains a great challenge for large-scale hydrogen production. Owing to its high earth abundance, low electrical resistivity, and small density, vanadium carbide (VC) is a promising HER electrode candidate but has been rarely explored. In this work, VC nanoparticles encased in nitrogen-doped carbon matrix on carbon cloth (VC@NC/CC) were prepared as a binder-free HER cathode through electropolymerization followed by carbothermal reduction under argon. In the first step of pyrrole electropolymerization, the VO43- anions, serving as both vanadium source and supporting electrolyte, were homogeneously incorporated in the positively charged polypyrrole (PPy) framework through coulombic interaction. The electropolymerization was effective for preparation of binder-free metal carbide materials with various polymer monomers as carbon source, which was favorable for the high performance of metal carbide electrodes. During the pyrolysis process, the polymeric hybrids were converted to VC nanoparticles and entrapped in the PPy-derived N-doped carbon matrix. The optimized VC@NC/CC electrode exhibited high catalytic activity and durability in both acidic and alkaline media. The use of VC for efficient HER is remarkable, and such a convenient and versatile electropolymerization-assisted method is appealing for the fabrication of industrially scalable large-area VC electrodes for efficient hydrogen production.