Mo₂C Ceramic Electrode Embedded with PtMo₃ Nanograins for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction at High Current Density

The scarcity and high price seriously hinder the large-scale industrial application of Pt as the preferred catalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). A PtMo3@Mo2C catalytic electrode was designed based on a porous Mo2C ceramic membrane with finger-like holes, where PtMo3 nanograins were uniformly embedded in the surface of the Mo2C grains by electrodeposition and thermal reduction. The loading of Pt is as small as 7.8 × 10–4 g m–2. The electrode exhibits extraordinary HER catalytic performance with an overpotential of 189 mV to drive a current density of 2.0 A cm–2 (acidic) and 212 mV to drive a current density of 1.0 A cm–2 (alkaline). Under ultrahigh current densities, the electrode can operate stably for over 152 h, demonstrating high structural stability and catalytic stability. Theoretical calculations indicate that the formation of Mo2C(100)/PtMo3(200) can further optimize the electronic structure of the interface Pt atoms, thereby enhancing the HER performance.