Nitrogen-Doped Porous Carbon Nanosheets Strongly Coupled with MoC Nanoparticles for Efficient Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution.

Exploring earth-abundant and noble metal-free catalysts for water electrolysis is pivotal in renewable hydrogen production. Herein, a highly active electrocatalyst of nitrogen-doped porous carbon nanosheets coupled with MoC nanoparticles (MoC/NPC) was synthesized by a novel method with high BET surface area of 1380 m g using KOH to activate carbon composite materials. The KOH plays a key role in etching out MoS to produce Mo precursor; simultaneously, it corrodes carbon to form porous structure and produce reducing gas such as H and CO. The resulting MoC/NPC hybrid demonstrated superior HER activity in acid solution, with the overpotential of 166 mV at current density of 10 mA cm, onset overpotential of 93 mV, Tafel slope of 68 mV dec, and remarkable long-term cycling stability. The present strategy may provide a promising strategy to fabricate other metal carbide/carbon hybrids for energy conversion and storage.