Synthesis of Ultrathin and Grid‐Structural Carbon Nanosheets Coupled with Mo<sub>2</sub>C for Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Production
Qianqian Du, Ruihua Zhao, Xiaojun Chen, Lu Liu, Shaoyang Zhang, Tianyu Guo, Jianping Du, Jinping Li
Abstract
Abstract Molybdenum carbide possessing a Pt‐like d‐band electronic structure is considered as one of potential candidates of electrocatalysts and it shows intrinsic catalytic property. However, a high carbonizing temperature easily leads to the coalescence of nanoparticles (NPs). Here, we propose a simple sol‐gel route to achieve high dispersity of carbide NPs by designing a Mo‐involved xerogel. The results show that molybdenum carbide NPs are dispersed and anchored on the nitrogen‐doped carbon nanosheets (Mo 2 C@NC). Ultrathin carbon layers resemble graphene and the network structures act as a support of carbide NPs, which can hinder NPs’ coalescence effectively. Nanpoparticles cross‐coupled on network‐structure nanosheets display the grid shapes. Electrochemical studies indicate that Mo 2 C@NC material exhibits outstanding hydrogen evolution performance in alkaline electrolyte.