Phosphorus-Mo2C@carbon nanowires toward efficient electrochemical hydrogen evolution: composition, structural and electronic regulation

Abstract

To explore high-performance electrocatalysts, electronic regulation on active sites is essentially demanded. Herein, we propose controlled phosphorus doping to effectively modify the electronic configuration of nanostructured Mo₂C, accomplishing a benchmark performance of noble-metal-free electrocatalysts in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Employing MoO_x–phytic acid–polyaniline hybrids with tunable composition as precursors, a series of hierarchical nanowires composed of phosphorus-doped Mo₂C nanoparticles evenly integrated within conducting carbon (denoted as P-Mo₂C@C) are successfully obtained via facile pyrolysis under inert flow. Remarkably, P-doping into Mo₂C can increase the electron density around the Fermi level of Mo₂C, leading to weakened Mo–H bonding toward promoted HER kinetics. Further density functional theory calculations show that the negative hydrogen-binding free energy (ΔG_H*) on pristine Mo₂C gradually increases with P-doping due to electron transfer and steric hindrance by P on the Mo₂C surface, indicating the effectively weakened strength of Mo–H. With optimal doping, a ΔG_H* approaching 0 eV suggests a good balance between the Volmer and Heyrovsky/Tafel steps in HER kinetics. As expected, the P-Mo₂C@C nanowires with controlled P-doping (P: 2.9 wt%) deliver a low overpotential of 89 mV at a current density of −10 mA cm⁻² and striking kinetic metrics (onset overpotential: 35 mV, Tafel slope: 42 mV dec⁻¹) in acidic electrolytes, outperforming most of the current noble-metal-free electrocatalysts. Elucidating feasible electronic regulation and the remarkably enhanced catalysis associated with controlled P-doping, our work will pave the way for developing efficient noble-metal-free catalysts via rational surface engineering.