Issue 22, 2023

One-step molten-salt synthesis of adjustable composition molybdenum carbide-based electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution in both acidic and alkaline media

Abstract

Molybdenum carbide is deemed a potential electrode material for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) under different pH condition electrolytes because of its unique metal-like electronic structure. Herein, we report a series of molybdenum carbide-based catalytic electrodes that were prepared by adjusting the proportion of glucose and ammonium molybdate in the molten salt. The prepared electrocatalysts mainly include Mo2C, Mo2C/C and Mo2C/MoO2. The composition influences electronic structure and microstructure of Mo2C, impacting the HER performance. As for Mo2C/C, because of the regulation of the carbon substrate, the charge transfer efficiency and electronic structure were improved. It exhibits satisfactory HER performance with low overpotentials at 10 mA cm−2 in alkaline (280 mV) and acidic electrolytes (264 mV). Meanwhile, it presents good Tafel slopes of 102 mV dec−1 (alkaline) and 88 mV dec−1 (acidic). The outstanding HER performance can be ascribed to the full exposure of the active sites and a strong in situ coupling between the carbon matrix and the nanoscale Mo2C. The carbon matrix not only offers abundant nucleation sites that prevent agglomeration of the Mo2C nanosheets, but also exhibits charge transfer towards Mo2C. This synthesis strategy may provide an idea for preparing transition metal carbide-based composite materials to apply in energy fields.

Graphical abstract: One-step molten-salt synthesis of adjustable composition molybdenum carbide-based electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution in both acidic and alkaline media

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
11 Pha 2023
Accepted
04 Mph 2023
First published
16 Mph 2023

Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2023,7, 5352-5360

One-step molten-salt synthesis of adjustable composition molybdenum carbide-based electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution in both acidic and alkaline media

G. Wang, J. Li, B. Zhang, T. Zhang, Z. Zheng and K. Jiang, Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2023, 7, 5352 DOI: 10.1039/D3SE01038D

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