Heterostructured Mo₂N–Mo₂C Nanoparticles Coupled with N‐Doped Carbonized Wood to Accelerate the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Abstract

Mo 2 C is a promising non‐precious hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalyst. However, regulating the strong hydrogen adsorption characteristics of Mo 2 C and finding suitable support electrodes are essential processes before Mo 2 C can replace Pt to realize a sustainable hydrogen economy. Herein, the facile synthesis of heterostructured Mo 2 N–Mo 2 C nanoparticles on N‐doped carbonized wood (Mo 2 N–Mo 2 C/N‐CW) as a self‐supported electrode through carbonization and NH 3 plasma treatment is demonstrated. The synergistic effects of heterostructured Mo 2 N–Mo 2 C and N‐CW with aligned microchannels provide enhanced catalytic activity, fast charge transfer kinetics, additional active site exposure, and rapid transport of the electrolyte and H 2 bubbles, which improves the HER performance. Consequently, the Mo 2 N–Mo 2 C/N‐CW electrode exhibits superior HER performance with low overpotentials of only 79 and 311 mV to reach 10 and 500 mA cm −2 in an acidic solution, respectively. It also exhibits long‐term stability for 20 h in the high‐current‐density region (110 mA cm −2 ). The density functional theory (DFT) calculations at various sites reveal that the heterointerface of Mo 2 N and Mo 2 C promoted the catalytic activity by optimizing the adsorption/desorption of hydrogen.