Molybdenum carbide supported by N-doped carbon: Controlled synthesis and application in electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction

摘要

Exploring noble-metal free electrocatalysts remains a great challenge for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, we report the fabrication of molybdenum carbides supported by N-doped carbon (MoCx/CN), employing glucose and melamine as precursors to generate conducting supports. The nanosized MoCx, and its intimate contact with CN, favor the efficient HER. The optimal MoCx/CN delivers an overpotential (eta) of 220 mV to produce a current density (j) of 10 mA cm(-2), and a high j of 72 mA cm(-2) at eta = 300 mV in 0.5 M H2SO(4). (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.