One-pot solution-free construction for hybrids of molybdenum carbide nanoparticles and porous N-doped carbon nanoplates as efficient electrocatalyst of hydrogen evolution

Electrochemical water splitting is one of the most economical and sustainable methods for large-scale hydrogen production. However, the development of earth-abundant non-noble-metal catalysts toward hydrogen evolution reaction, with excellent activity and stability, remains a great challenge. In this work, the coupled hybrids of β-Mo2C nanoparticles and porous N-doped carbon nanoplates is successfully constructed by the one-pot solution-free strategy. The hybrids exhibits high electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction with a small overpotential of 116 mV and 187 mV to deliver a current density of 10 mA/cm2 in 1.0 M KOH and 0.5 M H2SO4 solution. Furthermore, the hybrids have excellent stability in not only acidic solutions but also basic solutions. The superior activity and remarkable stability originated from the N-doped carbon nanoplates supplying enough surface area, the ultrafine β-Mo2C nanoparticles providing sufficient electrocatalytic active sites, the mesoporous structure facilitating the charge/mass transportation, and the coupling effect dropping the adsorption free energy of hydrogen. This work presents a simple and effective approach to prepare molybdenum-based materials with excellent electrocatalytic performance for hydrogen production.