Ultrafine α-Phase Molybdenum Carbide Decorated with Platinum Nanoparticles for Efficient Hydrogen Production in Acidic and Alkaline Media

Abstract

The development of efficient electrocatalysts is important to produce clean and sustainable hydrogen fuel on a large scale. With respect to cathodic reactions, Pt exhibits an overwhelming electrocatalytic capability in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in comparison with other earth-abundant electrocatalysts, despite its rarity and high cost. So, a hybrid catalyst that combines a low-cost electrocatalyst with Pt would balance cost-effectiveness with catalytic activity. Herein, α-phase molybdenum carbide (MoC1−x) nanoparticles (NPs) decorated with a small amount of Pt (MoC1−x/Pt-NPs) are designed to achieve high-performance hydrogen production in acidic and alkaline media. MoC1−x-NPs exhibit good electrocatalytic HER activity as well as stability and durability. They show favorable catalytic kinetics in an alkaline medium, suggesting an active water dissociation process. After Pt decoration, Pt-NPs that are 2–3 nm in diameter are well incorporated with MoC1−x-NPs. MoC1−x/Pt-NPs with a small amount of Pt (2.7–3 wt%) and are able to perform superior electrocatalytic HER activity, and possess stability and durability that is comparable to that of commercial Pt/C. Notably, they exhibit a higher intrinsic catalytic activity compared to that of Pt/C in an alkaline medium, indicating that they promote the sluggish catalytic kinetics of Pt in alkaline medium.