Highly efficient hydrogen evolution electrocatalysts based on coupled molybdenum phosphide and reduced graphene oxide derived from MOFs

Abstract

A coupled hybrid of molybdenum phosphide (MoP) and reduced graphene oxide has been prepared for the first time utilizing Mo-MOFs as precursors through a facile method. The nanocomposite exhibits superior electrocatalytic performance towards the HER, and is one of the best high-performance MoP-based electrocatalysts under acidic conditions reported so far.

Confined Molybdenum Phosphide in P-Doped Porous Carbon as Efficient Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution

“…The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) of MoP@PC shows the presence of C, P, Mo, and O elements in the hybrid (Figure a), and the corresponding element content is summarized in Table S1. As exhibited in Figure b, three C species occur in the high-resolution C 1s spectrum, which correspond to C–C/CC (284.6 eV), C–P (285.1 eV), and O–CO (288.7 eV). , The high-resolution Mo 3d XPS can be deconvoluted into six peaks, assignable to Mo 3+ (228.6/232.8 eV), Mo 4+ (232.0/233.3 eV), and Mo 6+ (233.8/236.6 eV) (Figure c). , Mo 3+ can be attributed to MoP species, which are considered as the active sites toward HER . In parallel, Mo 4+ and Mo 6+ can originate from surface-oxidized Mo species, which is in accordance with the PXRD analysis.…”

“…To this end, tremendous efforts have been dedicated for seeking nonprecious metal HER catalysts. Among them, molybdenum phosphide (MoP) has been intensively investigated as electrocatalysts owing to its Pt-like catalytic performance. − However, MoP nanoparticles would often suffer from aggregation and/or coalescence at high temperature, leading to low specific surface areas and few active sites, which undoubtedly discount the electrocatalytic performance. Therefore, it is quite urgent to develop new strategies to fabricate high-efficiency MoP-based electrocatalysts for HER.…”

Molybdenum‐Based Carbon Hybrid Materials to Enhance the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

“…Interestingly,t he organic ligandsi nt he MOFs could provide carbon and heteroatom sources for the fabrication of heteroatom-doped carbon nanomaterials, which can promote the catalytic activity and stability. Li et al [124] fabricated ah ybrid nanocomposite, an N-P co-doped carbon/RGO-wrapped MoP (MoP@NPG/rGO) hybrid,v ia carburizationa nd phosphidation using Mo-based MOFs prepared from imidazole and MoO 3 precursors.T he MoP@NPC/RGO catalyst showedr emarkableH ER performance and cycling stabilityb ecause of the synergetic contributions of MoP,N PC and rGO. Furthermore, these workers fabricated another nano-hybrid of MoP nanoparticles embedded in P-doped porousc arbon (MoP@PC)t hrough ap olyoxometalate (POM)-based MOF-assisted route followed by carburization and phosphidation ( Figure 15).…”

“…Li et al [124] fabricated ah ybrid nanocomposite, an N-P co-doped carbon/RGO-wrapped MoP (MoP@NPG/rGO) hybrid,v ia carburizationa nd phosphidation using Mo-based MOFs prepared from imidazole and MoO 3 precursors.T he MoP@NPC/RGO catalyst showedr emarkableH ER performance and cycling stabilityb ecause of the synergetic contributions of MoP,N PC and rGO. Li et al [124] fabricated ah ybrid nanocomposite, an N-P co-doped carbon/RGO-wrapped MoP (MoP@NPG/rGO) hybrid,v ia carburizationa nd phosphidation using Mo-based MOFs prepared from imidazole and MoO 3 precursors.T he MoP@NPC/RGO catalyst showedr emarkableH ER performance and cycling stabilityb ecause of the synergetic contributions of MoP,N PC and rGO.…”

“…Interestingly, the organic ligands in the MOFs could provide carbon and heteroatom sources for the fabrication of heteroatom‐doped carbon nanomaterials, which can promote the catalytic activity and stability. Li et al . fabricated a hybrid nanocomposite, an N‐P co‐doped carbon/RGO‐wrapped MoP (MoP@NPG/rGO) hybrid, via carburization and phosphidation using Mo‐based MOFs prepared from imidazole and MoO 3 precursors.…”