Efficient Alkaline Freshwater/Seawater Hydrogen Production via Heterogeneous N‐Doped FeMoO4/Mo2N Rod‐Shaped Electrocatalysts

• Published in: ChemSusChem Vol. 18; no. 6; pp. e202401425 - n/a
• Main Authors: He, Yanxiang, Tu, Meilian, Gan, Weijiang, Zhu, Zhixiao, Mushtaq, Muhammad, Al‐Mamun, Mohammad, Deng, Jianqiu, Yang, Hao, Wang, Zhongmin, Balogun, M.‐Sadeeq
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 15.03.2025
• Subjects: Catalysts; Electrocatalysts; Electrolysis; Electrolytes; FeMoO4/Mo2N; Heterogeneous structure; Hydrogen evolution reaction; Hydrogen evolution reactions; Hydrogen production; Metal foams; Nitrogen; Seawater; Seawater splitting; Water dissociation
• ISSN: 1864-5631; 1864-564X; 1864-564X
• DOI: 10.1002/cssc.202401425

Durable and efficient Fe‐based electrocatalysts in alkaline freshwater/seawater electrolysis is highly desirable but persists a significant challenge. Herein, we report a durable and robust heterogenous nitrogen‐doped FeMoO4/Mo2N rod‐shaped catalyst on nickel foam (denoted NF@FMO/MN) affording hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) low overpotentials of 23/29 mV@10 mA cm−2 and 112/159 mV@100 mA cm−2 in both alkaline freshwater/seawater electrolytes, respectively. These results are significantly superior to the pristine FeMoO4 catalyst. Theoretical calculations consistently reveals that the combination of N‐FeMoO4 and Mo2N effectively reduces water activation energy barrier, modulates the sluggish water‐dissociation kinetics and accelerates the hydrogen adsorption process for efficient HER. The enhanced HER performance of the as‐designed NF@FMO/MN catalyst is attributed to the in situ hetero‐interfacial engineering between N‐doped FeMoO4 and Mo2N. This present work nurtures the progress of FeMo‐based electrocatalysts in alkaline freshwater/seawater electrolysis. A high‐performance heterogeneous N‐doped FeMoO4‐Mo2N electrocatalyst was synthesized and applied as HER electrocatalyst in alkaline freshwater and alkaline seawater. Benefiting from the individual properties of both N‐doped FeMoO4 and Mo2N, the optimized FeMoO4‐Mo2N electrocatalyst requires low overpotentials of 23 and 29 mV to afford 10 mA cm−2 in 1 M KOH freshwater and seawater electrolytes, respectively.