Citric acid-derived nanoporous molybdenum carbide electrocatalyst for HER: Effect of porosity on HER performance

The development of noble metal-free electrocatalyst for HER is crucial for sustainable green electrolytic hydrogen production. Molybdenum carbides have shown enormous potential as an economic electrocatalyst for HER. In this study, we have synthesized three Mo 2 C/C electrocatalysts by varying the r...

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Published inJournal of materials research Vol. 38; no. 16; pp. 3861 - 3873
Main Authors Aich, Shruti, Banerjee, Atindra Mohan, Pai, M. R., Dutta, B., Hassan, P. A., Poswal, H., Tripathi, A. K.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cham Springer International Publishing 28.08.2023
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Ammonium molybdate
Applied and Technical Physics
Biomaterials
Carburizing
Chemistry and Materials Science
Citric acid
Electrocatalysts
Electrode polarization
Hydrogen production
Inorganic Chemistry
Materials Engineering
Materials research
Materials Science
Molybdenum carbide
Nanotechnology
Noble metals
Porosity
Raman spectroscopy
Synthesis
Hydrogen evolution reaction
Mo
Electrocatalyst
C
Porosity
Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS)
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Summary:The development of noble metal-free electrocatalyst for HER is crucial for sustainable green electrolytic hydrogen production. Molybdenum carbides have shown enormous potential as an economic electrocatalyst for HER. In this study, we have synthesized three Mo 2 C/C electrocatalysts by varying the ratios of carbon (citric acid) and molybdenum (ammonium heptamolybdate) precursors as 2:1, 1:1, and 1:2 (samples abbreviated as CAMO21, CAMO11, and CAMO12) using the carburization method. The synthesized samples are characterized by powder XRD, Raman spectroscopy, SAXS, SEM, and TEM which revealed the crystal phase, porosity, and morphological properties of the samples. The polarization curves reveal that their electrochemical activity for HER varied as CAMO12 > CAMO11 > CAMO21. EIS studies indicated that the resistance due to porosity of the samples is maximum for CAMO11, indicating that a bimodal porosity with a substantial fraction of pores near the micropore region is not beneficial for electrochemical HER. Graphical abstract
ISSN:0884-2914
2044-5326
DOI:10.1557/s43578-023-01104-8