Honeycomb-like Mo2C@nitrogen-doped carbon nanosheet/graphene (Mo2C@N-DC/G) aerogel films were synthesized successfully by dissolution and coagulation of chitin and graphene oxide, and subsequent simultaneous carbonization of chitin and carbothermal reduction of hexaammonium… Click to show full abstract
Honeycomb-like Mo2C@nitrogen-doped carbon nanosheet/graphene (Mo2C@N-DC/G) aerogel films were synthesized successfully by dissolution and coagulation of chitin and graphene oxide, and subsequent simultaneous carbonization of chitin and carbothermal reduction of hexaammonium molybdate. The resulting Mo2C@N-DC/G aerogel films exhibited homogeneous interconnected open-cell architectures, and the Mo2C nanoparticles were homogeneously embedded within a chitin/graphene oxide aerogel derived 3D highly conductive N-DC/G nanonetwork. Benefitting from the unique three-dimensional honeycomb-like architecture and characteristics with excellent electron transportation, abundant active sites, strong interaction between Mo2C nanocrystals and N-DC/G frameworks, the as-prepared catalyst exhibited remarkable catalytic activity and endurance for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The optimized Mo2C@N-DC/G electrocatalyst exhibits excellent HER electrocatalytic activity with a low overpotential of 107 mV to achieve a cathodic current density of 10 mA cm−2 and a small Tafel slope of 65.8 mV dec−1 in 0.5 M H2SO4 solution. Moreover, it also displays outstanding long-term electrochemical stability, exhibiting no significant decay after 1500 cycles and 15 h of continuous testing at fixed overpotentials. This work will illuminate an entirely new avenue for exploring various low-cost, high-performance self-supported electrode materials for various electrochemical energy conversion and storage applications.
               
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