Molybdenum carbide/phosphide hybrid nanoparticles embedded P, N co-doped carbon nanofibers for highly efficient hydrogen production in acidic, alkaline solution and seawater

Molybdenum (Mo) based materials including its phosphides, carbides, nitrides , oxides, dichalcogenides and metallic alloys have received particular interest in recent years for sustainable hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysis . In this study, a novel Mo 2 C/MoP hybrid nanoparticle embedded N, P co-doped carbon nanofibers on carbon fiber paper (Mo 2 C-MoP NPC/CFP-800) is successfully prepared as a highly efficient hierarchical HER electrocatalyst . Benefitting from its structural advantages and compositional merits, this Mo 2 C-MoP NPC/CFP-800 electrocatalyst displays remarkable catalytic activity as well as excellent durability for HER. Only 85 and 146 mV overpotential is required to drive a HER current density of 10 mA cm −2 in acidic and alkaline solution, respectively. Remarkably, this electrocatalyst is also able to fulfill efficient HER even in seawater . Further, this work reveals that the Mo 2 C/MoP hybrid nanoparticle is superior to MoP nanoparticle under present system in HER electrocatalysis, which may offer valuable clues on further design and synthesis of HER electrocatalysts.