General synthesis of nanostructured Mo2C electrocatalysts using a carbon template for electrocatalytic applications

Cost-effective and high-active electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) are crucial to sustainable hydrogen generation. Because of the intrinsic Pt-like electronic structure and unique catalytic properties, Mo 2 C is a promising alternative to Pt-based catalysts. However, synthesis of Mo 2 C catalysts remains challenging on loss of active sites from structural collapse and sintering at high temperatures. Herein, a facile technique is described to synthesize robust nanostructured Mo 2 C with a carbon template morphology by salt-assisted chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The highly active metallic vapor precursor generated from the mixture of MoO 3 and NaCl facilitates conversion of carbon template into carbide via a novel interface induced propagating synthesis mechanism. The obtained nanostructured Mo 2 C catalyst has high purity and crystallinity in addition to excellent electrocatalytic activity and stability in both alkaline and acidic media. The results demonstrate a promising synthetic strategy to construct high-quality nanostructured Mo 2 C and the technique can be extended to other carbide-based electrocatalysts for other energy-related applications.