Nitrogen-Doped Porous Carbon Nanosheets Strongly Coupled with Mo(2)C 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 Mo(2)C nanoparticles (Mo(2)C/NPC) was synthesized by a novel method with high BET surface area of 1380 m(2) g(−1) using KOH to activate carbon composite materials. The KOH plays a key role in etching out MoS(2) to produce Mo precursor; simultaneously, it corrodes carbon to form porous structure and produce reducing gas such as H(2) and CO. The resulting Mo(2)C/NPC hybrid demonstrated superior HER activity in acid solution, with the overpotential of 166 mV at current density of 10 mA cm(−2), onset overpotential of 93 mV, Tafel slope of 68 mV dec(−1), 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. SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: Supplementary information accompanies this paper at 10.1186/s11671-019-3147-z.