Bimetal zeolite imidazolate framework derived Mo0.84Ni0.16-Mo2C@NC nanosphere for overall water splitting in alkaline solution

Shunli Li; Zhixiong Yang; Zhen Liu; Yaping Ma; Yu Gu; Long Zhao; Qiulan Zhou; Weijian Xu

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2021.02.015

Bimetal zeolite imidazolate framework derived Mo_0.84Ni_0.16-Mo₂C@NC nanosphere for overall water splitting in alkaline solution

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2021 Jun 15:592:349-357. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.02.015. Epub 2021 Feb 19.

Authors

Shunli Li¹, Zhixiong Yang¹, Zhen Liu¹, Yaping Ma², Yu Gu¹, Long Zhao¹, Qiulan Zhou³, Weijian Xu⁴

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory for Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan 410082, China.
² Department of Physics, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518005, China.
³ State Key Laboratory for Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan 410082, China; Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China. Electronic address: qlzhou@hnu.edu.cn.
⁴ State Key Laboratory for Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan 410082, China. Electronic address: weijxu@hnu.edu.cn.

PMID: 33677195
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.02.015

Abstract

The bifunctional efficient electrocatalysts for both hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are in urgent need for the advanced overall water splitting (OWS) device. Restricted by the thermodynamic limitations of the catalytic active center for OER and the reaction kinetics limitations induced by the structure of the electrocatalysts, the development of OWS catalysts requires more effort. Herein, a porous carbon-based bimetal electrocatalyst of Mo_0.84Ni_0.16-Mo₂C@NC nanosphere is prepared by hydrothermal treatment of PMo₁₂@PVP@Zn/Ni-ZIF which is synthesized via one-pot self-assembled hydrothermal method. Our study confirms that the Mo-Ni alloy and Mo₂C nanoparticles homogeneously distribute in nitrogen-rich carbon-based materials. Furthermore, the porous structure exposes rich active sites and increases the effective specific area for redox reactions. The obtained Mo_0.84Ni_0.16-Mo₂C@NC catalyst requires low overpotentials of 151 and 285 mV to reach a current density of 10 mA cm^-2 towards the water reduction and oxidation in 1 M KOH solution, respectively, and possesses good catalytic stability for one day. This work introduces an advanced method for the synthesis of the bimetal electrocatalyst.

Keywords: Bimetallic zeolite imidazolate framework; Overall water splitting; Polyoxometalate.