N-doped Co6Mo6C nanorods as highly active and durable bifunctional electrocatalysts for water splitting

It is important to develop highly efficient and durable electrocatalysts for overall water splitting in industry application. Herein, we synthesized a novel 1D pea-like nitrogen-doped bimetallic carbide (N-Co 6 Mo 6 C) nanorods . Benefiting from the synergistic effect of N doping and good conductivity of the thin amorphous carbon shell on the surface of N-Co 6 Mo 6 C, the N-Co 6 Mo 6 C shows remarkable activity for both hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in acid and alkaline solution and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline solution, respectively. Furthermore, using the N-Co 6 Mo 6 C as both the anode and the cathode for overall water splitting, a cell voltage of only 1.58 V is needed to derive a current density of 10 mA/cm 2 . This work offers a new insight for the design of the non-noble bimetallic carbide with excellent electrocatalytic performance for overall water splitting.