In situ synthesis of tentacle-like NiC/Mo2C/NF nanorods array with excellent hydrogen evolution reaction at high current densities

Abstract

The problem limiting the use of hydrogen evolution reactions in industry is the inability of electrocatalysts to operate stably at high current densities, so the development of stable and efficient electrocatalysts is important for hydrogen production by water splitting. By designing a rational interface engineering not only can the problem of limited number of catalytic sites in the catalyst be solved, but also can facilitate electron transfer, thus enhancing the efficiency of water splitting. Here, we designed a two-stage chemical vapour deposition method to construct NiC/Mo2C nanorod arrays on nickel foam to enhance the electrocatalytic ability of the catalysts, which exhibited efficient HER catalytic activity due to their special tentacle-like nanorod structure and abundant heterogeneous junction surfaces, which brought about abundant active sites as well as promoted electron transfer capability. The resulting catalysts provide current densities of 10, 100 and 500 mA cm−2 with overpotentials of 31, 153 and 264 mV, and exhibit excellent stability at current densities of 10 mA cm−2 for 200 h. This discovery provides a new idea for the rational design of catalysts with special morphologies.