Metal–organic framework-guided growth of Mo2C embedded in mesoporous carbon as a high-performance and stable electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction

摘要: Large-scale production of H2 by electrochemical water splitting is discerned as one the most economical and viable approaches designing Pt-less electrocatalysts remains at forefront this technology development. Herein, in situ transformation metal–organic frameworks (MOF), impregnated with a molybdenum precursor, into porous rigid carbon support carbide (Mo2C) was demonstrated to fabricate highly active stable β-Mo2C/C heterostructure for electrocatalytic evolution. The two-step synthesis approach involved impregnation source MOF (namely MIL-53(Al)) followed nucleation growth Mo2C nanocrystals confined texture through carburization. Characterization revealed formation mesoporous embodied crystalline nanoparticles β-Mo2C (between 5 10 nm). A probable mechanism Mo2C/C nanocomposite proposed. propensity catalyst tested towards evolution reaction (HER) under alkaline aqueous media (1 M KOH). electrocatalyst showed remarkable HER activity compared benchmark Pt/C Mo2C/XC72 black catalysts mA cm−2 stability 20 h same current density. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy results were construed two time constants, porosity charge transfer, Volmer–Heyrovsky mechanism.