Heterostructured VN/Mo₂C Nanoparticles as Highly Efficient pH-Universal Electrocatalysts toward the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Abstract

Development of cost-effective and high-efficiency electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is still of great significance for industrial clean hydrogen fuel production. Herein, a novel heterostructured VN/Mo2C nanoparticle is synthesized by a facile and one-step pyrolysis protocol. When applied for the HER, the optimized VN/Mo2C catalyst exhibited quite low overpotentials (alkaline medium: 45 mV, acid medium: 140 mV, and neutral medium: 180 mV) for driving the current density of 10 mA cm–2, obviously superior to the isolated vanadium nitride (VN) and Mo2C counterparts, and remarkable catalytic durability for at least 100 h. Such an outstanding electrocatalytic HER performance is primarily ascribed to the increased catalytically active sites, enhanced electronic interaction effects, as well as the improved electrical conductivity over the heterostructured VN/Mo2C nanoparticles. This study provides a new method for the design of HER electrocatalysts with high efficiency and stability.

Synergistic Coupling of Hierarchical Heterostructured Ni3P/Ni/VN Microflower Electrocatalyst for Enhanced Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

“…As illustrated in Figure 4b, the Tafel slope of Ni 3 P/Ni/ VN@NC was 190.9 mV dec À 1 , smaller than those of Ni/VN@NC, Ni 3 P/Ni@NC and Ni@NC with respective Tafel slopes of 206.7, 216.6 and 304.4 mV dec À 1 , indicating that the faster HER reaction kinetics for Ni 3 P/Ni/VN@NC and followed the Volmer-Heyrovsky mechanism. [57][58] Furthermore, the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements of the samples were conducted to estimate the charge transfer properties. The Nyquist plots and fitted equivalent circuit diagrams for Ni 3 P/Ni/VN@NC, Ni/VN@NC, Ni 3 P/Ni@NC and Ni@NC were depicted in Figure 4c.…”

Advanced and Durable Self-Standing MoC-Mo2C Electrode for Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution in Chlor-alkali Electrolysis

“…On the other hand, due to the urgent demands for electrolytic production “green” hydrogen by water splitting, research on efficient and cost-affordable catalysts for the HER and OER has been boosted. Among them, molybdenum (Mo) carbide-based materials with similar d-band electronic structures to Pt have shown high HER activity in acidic or alkaline aqueous solution. − The HER activity of β-Mo 2 C nanotube in basic media was even better than that in acidic one, which is superior to that of Pt at high current density. Recently, we prepared a self-standing MoC-Mo 2 C electrode by the electro-carbiding route.…”

Vanadium Nitride/Carbon Nanotube Vertical Nanoarrays on Iron Foam for Oxygen Evolution Reaction

“…Engineering interfacial regulation can be performed between the two phases of the hybrid. Engineering interface modulation is an effective strategy to tune the electronic structure of catalysts, which can optimize the activity and reaction energy barriers of active sites and promote electrocatalytic water splitting. , Chen et al reported an FeNi LDH/MOF composite with a unique 2D/1D structure. The 2D nanosheets combined with a 1D porous structure can provide abundant active sites and mass transfer channels for electrocatalytic water splitting, enhancing the OER catalytic activity .…”