Selective synthesis of hierarchical nanoporous Mo–Ni intermetallic compounds as hydrogen evolution reaction catalysts via partial liquid metal dealloying

The present work demonstrates the selective synthesis of bicontinuous nanoporous Mo–Ni intermetallic compounds via partial liquid metal dealloying (PLMD). This innovative technique exploits a phase equilibrium between a liquid bath and solid ligaments to realize a self-limiting leaching process such that Ni dissolution is spontaneously terminated at a desired composition. Using this approach, bicontinuous porous architectures were produced for all binary intermetallic compounds in the Mo–Ni phase diagram. Electrochemical evaluations revealed that porous Mo 7 Ni 7 exhibited the highest activity when employed as a catalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction. A novel two-step PLMD process was used to construct a hierarchically porous Mo 7 Ni 7 structure showing significantly enhanced catalytic performance as a result of ligament refinement.