Unique Hierarchical Mo 2 C/C Nanosheet Hybrids as Active Electrocatalyst for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

A facile and effective pyrolysis stratagem is proposed for the synthesis of hierarchical Mo 2 C/C nanosheet hybrids with sodium chloride (NaCl) crystals as a template. Large numbers of well-dispersed sheet-like Mo 2 C nanoparticles with the thickness of about 20 nm were anchored on the surface of carbon nanosheets. Benefiting from the ideal synergistic catalytic effect between the highly active sheet-like Mo 2 C nanoparticles and the conductive graphitic carbon, and strong charge transfer ability, the unique hierarchical sheet-like structure of Mo 2 C/C hybrids demonstrated excellent hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance in both alkaline and acid medias with small overpotential (125 mV for 10 mA cm –2 in 1 M KOH and 180 mV for 10 mA cm –2 in 0.5 M H 2 SO 4 ) and remarkable stability, which is comparable to most reported non-noble metal HER electrocatalysts. With the simplicity and low-cost of the synthetic approach, the strategy presented here can be extendable to the preparation of other transition metal-based/carbon nanosheet hybrids for versatile applications.