N-enriched porous carbon doped with co, ni, and Mo as efficient electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction

Splitting water for hydrogen production is still a promising technique to meet the energy requirements of society and overcome many environmental problems. However, the development of carbon-based transition electrocatalysts with superior activity for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is still challenging. In this study, a CoNiMo/NPC electrocatalyst was successfully fabricated using ZIF-67 as a precursor via facile absorption, pyrolysis and annealing processes. The fabricated CoNiMo/NPC was used as an electrocatalyst for hydrogen production. The results revealed that the doping of Ni and Mo increase the number of active sites and enhance the conductivity of electrocatalysts. CoNiMo/NPC exhibits excellent HER activity in alkaline solutions and only requires an overpotential of 182 mV to reach a current density of 10 mA/cm(2). Furthermore, long-term measurements demonstrated that CoNiMo/NPC has superior durability in alkaline solutions. The excellent HER performance of CoNiMo/NPC can be attributed to the doping of Co, Ni, and Mo on porous carbon. In addition, the high specific surface area and high graphitisation degree of the electrocatalyst are beneficial for rapid charge transport and collection. (C) 2021 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.