Issue 10, 2025

Interfacial engineering of a Ni3ZnC0.7/VN heterostructure with optimized dual metal sites for alkaline electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Abstract

Bimetallic carbide electrocatalysts have been proven to hold great promise for the electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Nevertheless, the effective upgrading of bimetallic carbides for the HER is hampered due to the lack of efficient strategies for the modulation of catalytically active sites. Herein, a novel heterostructured electrocatalyst, comprising Ni3ZnC0.7/VN nanoparticles embedded into N-doped carbon nanotubes (Ni3ZnC0.7/VN@CNTs), is successfully synthesized via a one-step straightforward calcination protocol. Theoretical and experimental results demonstrate that the synergistic coupling of Ni3ZnC0.7 and VN not only enhances the density of interfacial active sites, but also triggers a redistribution of interfacial charges, driven by the work function difference between the two components. This leads to the generation of abundant high-activity Ni–V bridge sites, thereby effectively reducing the H* adsorption–desorption energy barriers and expediting the HER kinetics of Ni3ZnC0.7/VN@CNTs. The as-obtained Ni3ZnC0.7/VN@CNTs require a remarkably low overpotential of 124 mV to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm−2 without iR-compensation for the HER, and exhibit outstanding long-term stability for at least 600 h in 1.0 M KOH solution. This work provides a pioneering optimized tactic of dual metal sites for exploiting high-performance bimetallic carbide electrocatalysts that can facilitate the production of sustainable hydrogen.

Graphical abstract: Interfacial engineering of a Ni3ZnC0.7/VN heterostructure with optimized dual metal sites for alkaline electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Research Article
Submitted
05 Feb 2025
Accepted
02 Apr 2025
First published
16 Apr 2025

Mater. Chem. Front., 2025,9, 1596-1608

Interfacial engineering of a Ni3ZnC0.7/VN heterostructure with optimized dual metal sites for alkaline electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution

L. Feng, K. Zhao, L. Dai, D. He, H. Yin, Y. Zhang, J. Chen, L. Cao and J. Huang, Mater. Chem. Front., 2025, 9, 1596 DOI: 10.1039/D5QM00113G

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements