title: Mo2C Nanoparticles Dispersed on Hierarchical Carbon Microflowers for Efficient Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution.
abstract: The development of nonprecious metal based electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) has received increasing attention over recent years. Previous studies have established Mo2C as a promising candidate. Nevertheless, its preparation requires high reaction temperature, which more than often causes particle sintering and results in low surface areas. In this study, we show supporting Mo2C nanoparticles on the three-dimensional scaffold as a possible solution to this challenge and develop a facile two-step preparation method for ∼3 nm Mo2C nanoparticles uniformly dispersed on carbon microflowers (Mo2C/NCF) via the self-polymerization of dopamine. The resulting hybrid material possesses large surface areas and a fully open and accessible structure with hierarchical order at different levels. MoO42-was found to play an important role in inducing the formation of this morphology presumably via its strong chelating interaction with the catechol groups of dopamine. Our electrochemical evaluation demonstrates that Mo2C/NCF exhibits excellent HER electrocatalytic performance with low onset overpotentials, small Tafel slopes, and excellent cycling stability in both acidic and alkaline solutions.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices, Soochow University , Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices, Soochow University , Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Qiufang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices, Soochow University , Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Xuening
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices, Soochow University , Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices, Soochow University , Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Kaiqi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nie
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices, Soochow University , Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Feipeng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices, Soochow University , Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Yeyun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices, Soochow University , Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices, Soochow University , Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices, Soochow University , Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Yanguang
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0506-0451
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
keywords: hybrid electrocatalyst; hydrogen evolution reaction; molybdenum carbide; polydopamine; three-dimensional hierarchical structure