Electrospinning Hetero-Nanofibers of Fe3 C-Mo2 C/Nitrogen-Doped-Carbon as Efficient Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution.
Heterostructured electrocatalysts with multiple active components are expected to synchronously address the two elementary steps in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), which require varied hydrogen-binding strength on the catalyst surface. Herein, electrospinning followed by a pyrolysis is introduced to design Fe3 C-Mo2 C/nitrogen-doped carbon (Fe3 C-Mo2 C/NC) hetero-nanofibers (HNFs) with tunable composition, leading to abundant Fe3 C-Mo2 C hetero-interfaces for synergy in electrocatalysis. Owing to the strong hydrogen binding on Mo2 C and the relatively weak one on Fe3 C, the hetero-interfaces of Fe3 C-Mo2 C remarkably promote HER kinetics and intrinsic activity. Additionally, the loose and porous N-doped carbon matrix, as a result of Fe-catalyzed carbonization, ensures the fast transport of electrolytes and electrons, thus minimizing diffusion limitation. As expected, the optimized Fe3 C-Mo2 C/NC HNFs afforded a low overpotential of 116 mV at a current density of -10 mA cm-2 and striking kinetics metrics (onset overpotential: 42 mV, Tafel slope: 43 mV dec-1 ) in 0.5 m H2 SO4 , outperforming most recently reported noble-metal-free electrocatalysts.
['Lin|Huanlei|H|', 'Zhang|Wenbiao|W|', 'Shi|Zhangping|Z|', 'Che|Minwei|M|', 'Yu|Xiang|X|', 'Tang|Yi|Y|', 'Gao|Qingsheng|Q|0000-0002-4273-8500']
D002244:Carbon D017554:Carbon Compounds, Inorganic D002384:Catalysis D004560:Electricity D004563:Electrochemistry D006859:Hydrogen D058085:Iron Compounds D008982:Molybdenum D057139:Nanofibers D036103:Nanotechnology D009584:Nitrogen D016062:Porosity
electrocatalysts heterostructures hydrogen evolution reaction metal carbides synergic enhancement