Preparation Non-Noble Electrocatalyst Porous Mo₂N Nanobelt Arrays and Investigation on Hydrogen Evolution Performance

Porous molybdenum nitride(Mo₂N) nanobelt arrays that integrated with conductive carbon paper were obtained via hydrothermal and nitridation method under optimal conditions. Initially, high density MoO₃ nanobelt arrays were in situ synthesized on carbon paper via the hydrothermal method. The followed nitridation reaction was based on the solid-state topotactic reaction mechanism. After that, arrayed Mo₂N nanobelts with closely aligned mesopores were formed. This prepared Mo₂N/C could be used as an electrode directly without adding polymer binder or additives. Mo₂N/C presented an enhanced electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance without loading noble metal. The overpotential for Mo₂N porous nanobelt arrays was about-180 mV at 10 mA·cm^-2 current density.And the Tafel slope was at about 81 mV/dec. Compared with MoO₃/C, the η10 value of porous Mo₂N/C was about-60 mV lower, and Tafel slope was about 94 mV/dec smaller. After nitriding, the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution property has been improved significantly. The results suggested that porous Mo₂N/C possesses a promising potential as self-supporting non-noble metal electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution.