Hetero-structured Ru-MoC nanoparticles loaded on N,P co-doped carbon for a pH universal hydrogen evolution reaction.

Considering the extensive research studies on Ru and MoC for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), the construction of heterostructure catalysts containing both Ru and MoC nanoparticles can further improve the catalytic activity by the synergistic effect of different species. In this work, we report the synthesis of N,P co-doped carbon coated Ru and MoC nanoparticles for the HER using a ZnMo metal-organic framework (MOF) as the precursor. The addition of phosphomolybdic acid during the synthesis of a Zn-MOF not only provides a Mo source for the formation of MoC, but also induces a nano-bowl structure. After anchoring RuCl in the ZnMo-MOF and thermal annealing, Ru and MoC nanoparticles encapsulated in N,P doped carbon (Ru-MoC@NPC) were synthesized and the nano-bowl morphology was well preserved. Due to the co-existence of the highly active catalytic species Ru and MoC, a large specific surface area owing to the evaporation of Zn during the calcination process, and the nano-bowl-like morphology that boosts mass transfer, Ru-MoC@NPC exhibits good catalytic activity for the HER over a wide pH range, with overpotentials of 62, 64 and 170 mV in 0.5 M HSO, 1 M KOH and 1 M PBS solution at 10 mA cm, surpassing the values for many Ru and MoC based catalysts. This work provides a feasible route for designing high performance HER catalysts.