Ultrafine Electrospun Cobalt-Molybdenum Bimetallic Nitride as a Durable Electrocatalyst for Hydrogen Evolution
Xianhao Chen, Fuhe Le, Zhenjiang Lu, Dehuo Zhou, Haibin Yao, Wei Jia
Abstract
Transition metal nitrides are promising electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) owing to their Pt-like electronic structure. However, the harsh nitriding conditions greatly limit their large-scale applications. Herein, ultrafine Co 3 Mo 3 N-Mo 2 C (<1 nm)-decorated carbon nanofibers (Co 3 Mo 3 N-Mo 2 C/CNFs) were prepared by electrostatic spinning followed by pyrolysis treatment, in which the MoCo-MOF simultaneously serves as the precursor and nitrogen source. The generated synergistic interactions between Mo 2 C and Co 3 Mo 3 N significantly adjust the electronic structure of Mo 2 C and afford a fast charge transfer, which endows the resultant hybrid with superior HER electrocatalytic performances. Specifically, the as-obtained Co 3 Mo 3 N-Mo 2 C/CNF delivers a low overpotential of only 76 mV to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm –2 and superior durability with no obvious degradation for 200 h in acidic media. This performance outperforms most of the transition metal-based electrocatalysts reported to date. This work paves a new way for the design of catalysts with ultrasmall size and high efficiency in energy conversion.