Design and modulation principles of molybdenum carbide-based materials for green hydrogen evolution

摘要

The green production of hydrogen from electrocatalytic water splitting is an important base and promising direction for the future of the large-scale application of hydrogen energy.The key of green hydrogen evolution depends on the development of low-cost and highly active electrocatalysts.Molybdenum carbides(MoxC),as a typical of earth-abundant transition-metal material,have accumulated great attention due to their low cost,earth abundance,electrical conductivity,similar d-band state to Pt,and regulated morphology/electronic structures.In this paper,recent researches focusing on MoxC for efficient HER in a wide pH range are summarized from respects of modulation of unique morphology,electronic structure,and electrode interface step by step.Briefly,modulation of morphology influence the apparent activity of catalyst,modulation of electronic structure of active sites by heteroatom doping and designing heterointerface boost intrinsic HER kinetics,and modulation of electrode interface via hybridization of MoxC structures with carbon materials can ensure the fast electron transfer and boost the activity.Besides the above methods discussed,perspective and challenges of designing MoxC as the substitute of Pt-based electrocatalyst for practical hydrogen generation in a wide pH range are pointed out.