Ultrafine Molybdenum Carbide Nanoparticles Composited with Carbon as a Highly Active Hydrogen-Evolution Electrocatalyst

Ruguang Ma; Yao Zhou; Yongfang Chen; Pengxi Li; Qian Liu; Jiacheng Wang

doi:10.1002/anie.201506727

Ultrafine Molybdenum Carbide Nanoparticles Composited with Carbon as a Highly Active Hydrogen-Evolution Electrocatalyst

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2015 Dec 1;54(49):14723-7. doi: 10.1002/anie.201506727. Epub 2015 Oct 16.

Authors

Ruguang Ma^{1

2

3}, Yao Zhou^{1

2

3}, Yongfang Chen^{1

4}, Pengxi Li¹, Qian Liu^{1

2

3}, Jiacheng Wang^{5

6

7}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1295 Dingxi Road, Shanghai 200050 (P. R. China).
² Innovation Center for Inorganic Materials Genomic Science, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Shanghai 200050 (P. R. China).
³ Shanghai Materials Genome Institute, Shanghai 200444 (P. R. China).
⁴ University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (P. R. China).
⁵ State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1295 Dingxi Road, Shanghai 200050 (P. R. China). jiacheng.wang@mail.sic.ac.cn.
⁶ Innovation Center for Inorganic Materials Genomic Science, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Shanghai 200050 (P. R. China). jiacheng.wang@mail.sic.ac.cn.
⁷ Shanghai Materials Genome Institute, Shanghai 200444 (P. R. China). jiacheng.wang@mail.sic.ac.cn.

PMID: 26474079
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201506727

Abstract

The replacement of platinum with non-precious-metal electrocatalysts with high efficiency and superior stability for the hydrogen-evolution reaction (HER) remains a great challenge. Herein, we report the one-step synthesis of uniform, ultrafine molybdenum carbide (Mo2C) nanoparticles (NPs) within a carbon matrix from inexpensive starting materials (dicyanamide and ammonium molybdate). The optimized catalyst consisting of Mo2C NPs with sizes lower than 3 nm encapsulated by ultrathin graphene shells (ca. 1-3 layers) showed superior HER activity in acidic media, with a very low onset potential of -6 mV, a small Tafel slope of 41 mV dec(-1), and a large exchange current density of 0.179 mA cm(-2), as well as good stability during operation for 12 h. These excellent properties are similar to those of state-of-the-art 20% Pt/C and make the catalyst one of the most active acid-stable electrocatalysts ever reported for HER.

Keywords: electrocatalysis; graphene; hydrogen-evolution reaction; molybdenum carbide nanoparticles; water splitting.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't