Self-supporting WB/WC ceramic composite electrodes for robust hydrogen evolution reaction at high current densities

Owing to its Pt-like electronic structure, Tungsten carbide (WC)is a promising alternative to Pt-based catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction. Herein, a novel WB/WC composite ceramic electrode is fabricated via phase-inversion, tape-casting and pressureless sintering in a boron nitride (BN) powder bed. Abundant WB/WC heterojunctions are formed in-situ from the reaction between tungsten disulfide (WS 2 ) and BN on the surface of WC grains. The as-prepared ceramic electrode possesses an ordered finger-like porous structure with favorable hydrophilic and aerophobic features, accelerating electrolyte infiltration, hydrogen desorption, and exposing abundant active sites. It achieves ultrahigh-current hydrogen evolution reaction performance with overpotentials of 334 mV (acidic) and 298 mV (alkaline) at 2000 mA·cm −2 , and maintains robust stability for over 100 h at 1000 mA·cm −2 , outperforming commercial Pt/C. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that interfacial electron transfer from WB to WC optimizes hydrogen adsorption free energy near zero, boosting water adsorption and dissociation kinetics.