Molybdenum and cobalt co-doped VC nanoparticles encapsulated in nanocarbon as efficient electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction

Abstract

The development of highly active, stable and low-cost non-noble metal electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is still the key issue in the field of hydrogen energy. Herein, molybdenum and cobalt co-doped VC nanoparticles encapsulated in nanocarbon (Mo, Co-VC@C) are successfully synthesized via a one-pot calcination route for the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The Mo, Co-VC@C catalyst exhibits a low overpotential of 137 mV at a current density of 10 mV cm⁻² with a quite small Tafel slope of 93.1 mV dec⁻¹, as well as outstanding long-term durability for at least 110 h in 1 M KOH solution. Such excellent electrocatalytic HER performance is ascribed to the synergistic contribution of the optimized electronic structure, the improved electronic conductivity and the exposed abundant catalytic active sites of the ultrafine VC nanostructure.