Nitrogen atoms doping strengthens the interaction between Fe3C and carbon support for boosted hydrogen production performance in wide pH range

Strengthening the interaction between nanoparticles and support is advantageous to modulate the electronic structure and improve catalytic performance. Here, NH 2 -MIL-88B(Fe) is transformed into the Fe 3 C nanoparticles loaded on nitrogen-doped carbon materials (Fe 3 C@N-C) by calcination and acid-leching processes. N atoms doping adjusts the π-electron structure and enhances surface electrophilicity of carbon skeleton, which strengthens the interaction with Fe 3 C nanoparticles and adjusts the d-electron structure of Fe atoms. Such significant improvement enhances the decomposition of H 2 O molecules and the adsorption of H* intermediates. Ultimately, Fe 3 C@N-C exhibits superior electrocatalytic HER performance in wide pH range compared to non-nitrogen doped Fe 3 C@C material. Furthermore, the two-electrode system assembled with Fe 3 C@N-C and NiFe LDH also exhibits excellent overall water splitting performance in alkaline media, requiring only 1.53 V to achieve 10 mA cm −2 . This work provides strong practical and theoretical foundations for further expanding the heteroatom doping strategy to regulate the interaction between metal and supports.