Synthesis of Mo2C/MoC and Mo2C/MoC/MoP heterostructures supported on N-doped carbon as electrocatalyst for high-efficient hydrogen evolution reaction

Electrochemical water splitting is considered a sustainable route for the hydrogen industry. In this work, Mo2C/MoC heterostructure supported on N-doped carbon (Mo2C/MoC@NC) was prepared via a carbonization strategy. For the product (Mo2C/MoC@NC-1-2) fabricated with a g-C3N4/ammonium molybdate tetrahydrate molar ratio of 1:2 at 700 degrees C under 10%CH4/H-2 atmosphere, a high stability and good HER activity with a eta 10 of 113 mV in 1M KOH were achieved. To further enhance the catalytic performance of the synthesized Mo2C/MoC@NC, the phosphating strategy was proposed for the preparation of Mo2C/MoC/MoP heterostructure supported on N-doped carbon (Mo2C/MoC/MoP@NC). When the precursor Mo2C/MoC@NC-1-2 was phosphated at 650 degrees C with a heating rate of 5 degrees C min(-1) and kept for 0 min, the as-synthesized Mo2C/MoC/MoP@NC-650-0 exhibits good HER catalytic activity with a pretty low eta 10 of 78 mV, aj(0) of 0.398 mA cm(-2), and a Tafel slope of 52 mV dec(-1) in 1M KOH. This good activity of HER can be ascribed to the N-doped carbon as substrate and the construction of transition metal-based heterostructures. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

In this study, a Mo2C/MoC/MoP@NC composite catalyst was successfully prepared using carbonization and phosphating strategies, which exhibited good hydrogen evolution reaction activity and stability in 1M KOH.