Molten salt N-modified Mo2CTx as a non-precious metal catalyst for efficient hydrogen evolution reaction

The two-dimensional molybdenum carbide (Mo 2 CT x ) has a similar electronic structure to platinum, which has the potential to be one of non-precious metals catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, the preparation of Mo 2 CT x by conventional HF and LiF–HCl etching method inevitably introduces the –F and –Cl terminations on the surface, which adversely affect activity and stability. In this study, the LiCl–KCl–Li 3 N molten salt was used to treat Mo 2 CT x at 600 °C and atmospheric pressure and introduce nitrogen heteroatoms . After treated in LiCl–KCl–Li 3 N molten salt, the HER performance of nitrogen-doped Mo 2 CT x is improved compared with that of un-doped Mo 2 CT x , which should be attributed to the optimization of the electronic structure of N–Mo 2 CT x and lower hydrogen adsorption energy barrier. This simple molten salt method provides a way to modify non-precious metal HER catalyst and introduce nitrogen heteroatoms.