Polyoxometalate Compound-Derived MoP-Based Electrocatalyst with N-Doped Mesoporous Carbon as Matrix, a Cathode Material for Zn–H⁺ Battery

H 2 is confirmed as a perfect substitute for traditional fossil energy, which can be obtained through hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) after electrocatalytic H 2 O decomposition. High-performance electrocatalysts play a significant role in HER. Here, with coordination complex-modified Standberg-type polyoxometalate and peach juice as precursors, MoP-based electrocatalysts with N-doped mesoporous carbon as a matrix ( [email protected] ) were obtained. Remarkably, during synthesis, the extremely poisonous PH 3 and highly explosive H 2 were avoided. [email protected] exhibits very excellent electrocatalytic activity in acidic electrolytes. To get 10 mA·cm –2 current, [email protected] only requires 92 mV overpotential with Tafel slope 56 mV·dec –1 . It also possesses perfect long time stability and durability in HER. More importantly, with [email protected] as the cathode and the Zn plate serving as the anode, a new type of battery, Zn–H + battery, is assembled. In this Zn–H + battery, Zn provides electrons, which pass through an external circuit and reach the cathode. Under the catalysis of [email protected], the H + ions are reduced by these electrons and form H 2 . The open circuit voltage of the Zn–H + battery is 1.19 V. Its peak power density is 89.7 mW·cm –2 . The energy density of this Zn–H + battery arrives at 809 W h·kg –1 at 10 mA·cm –2 . This work establishes a new piece of research field for HER.