Fabrication of Mo2C nanoparticles on N-doped carbon nanosheets as high-performance electrocatalyst

Abstract

Molybdenum carbide is a promising material as electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, a facile strategy was proposed to prepare Mo-precursor by coordination of Mo with polysaccharide from natural biomass (jujube) at room temperature, which also acted as carbon and chelating agent. After the Mo-polysaccharide complex is carbonized, Mo2C nanoparticles (NPs) are highly dispersed on N-doped carbon matrix. In this process, nitrogen self-doping, lamellar carbon formation and molybdenum carbonization were achieved simultaneously, and particle aggregation is avoided. The results show that 2D carbon nanosheets-embedded Mo2C NPs is an excellent electrocatalyst for HER in alkaline medium. An overpotential of 124 mV at j = 10 mA cm−2 can be reached when the optimum Mo2C/NC-1.0 material as electrode material, and it is better than other Mo2C materials reported recently. The exceptional HER performance is originated from the 2D lamellar structure and rich-N atom from jujube source, which can accelerate electron transfer and change the electron density of Mo2C. This study opens a new avenue to design biomass-derived C/Mo2C used as catalyst in hydrogen-evolving reactions.