Superstructures of Organic–Polyoxometalate Co-crystals as Precursors for Hydrogen Evolution Electrocatalysts

Abstract

Molybdenum-based carbides and nitrides have been considered as catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). One of the challenges in using Mo-based HER electrocatalysts is establishing well-defined precursors which can be transformed into Mo-based carbides/nitrides with controllable structure and porosity. We report the synthesis of a series of superstructures consisting of organic–polyoxometalate co-crystals (O-POCs) as a new type of metal–organic precursor to synthesize Mo-based carbides/nitrides in a controlled fashion and to use them for efficient catalytic hydrogen production. This protocol enables to create electrocatalysts composed of abundant nanocrystallites and heterojunctions with tunable micro- and nanostructure and mesoporosity. The best performing electrocatalyst shows high HER activity and stability with a low overpotential of 162 mV at 100 mA cm−2 (in comparison to Pt/C with 263 mV), which makes it one of the best non-noble metal HER catalysts in alkaline media and seawater.