Architecting Biomass-Derived Carbon Nanosheets with Dual-Atom-Doped Mo2C as a Promising Sustainable Electrocatalyst for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Biomass carbon possesses inherent porous and multiple-dimensional structure, which are of great significance in facilitating the decoration of active species and enhancing mass transfer processes. Molybdenum carbide (Mo2C) with an electronic structure closely resembling that of platinum (Pt) group metals has emerged as an outstanding electrocatalyst with remarkable hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance. Herein, we employed peanut shell carbon (PSC) along with nitrogen (N) and ruthenium (Ru) as dopants to fabricate Ru-N-Mo2C@PSC nanocomposites. The resulting multicomponent electrocatalyst demonstrates an ultralow overpotential of 15 and 62 mV corresponding to current densities of 10 and 50 mA cm–2, respectively, outperforming commercial Pt/C. Density functional theory uncovers that codoping of N and Ru promotes water dissociation and H desorption over Mo2C. Additionally, life cycle assessment reveals that Ru-N-Mo2C@PSC demonstrates significantly better sustainability performance in several key impact categories. This research not only presents a facile and sustainable approach to fabricating efficient electrocatalysts for HER but also offers valuable perspectives on the sensible design of sustainable energy materials.