Mo2C regulated by cobalt components in N-doped carbon networks as pH-universal electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction

Developing non-noble and high-performance electrocatalysts that are suitable for a wide pH range is viable for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), whereas it has a great challenge to design suitable catalyst to overcome the slow water dissociation kinetics. Herein, we report a novel and large-scale tactics using natural kelp as a precursor by utilizing the super high water-absorption capacity to construct Co/Mo2C nanoparticles dispersed in N-doped carbon matrix with lamellar-crossing networks (Co/Mo2C@N-CKNs). Benefiting from synergistic advantages of Co-doped, Mo2C, as well as on the N-doped carbon, the Co/Mo2C@N-CKNs show superior HER performance in different pH condition with low overpotential of 63, 338 and 98mV at the current density of 10 mA·cm−2 in 0.5 M H2SO4, 0.1 M PBS and 1 M KOH respectively, and remaining stable even after 50 h of testing. This work may supply a common and hopeful strategy to realize non-noble and high-performance HER electrocatalysts with pH-universal work condition.