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Updated: Apr 21, 2026

Synthesis of Metal Nanoparticles Supported on Carbon Nanotube with Doped Co and N Atoms and its Catalytic Applications in Hydrogen Production
Published on: December 6, 2021
Molybdenum-driven electronic restructuring of iron carbides unlocks faster volmer kinetics in alkaline hydrogen
Animesh Khaund1,2, Srijib Das2,3, Esin Aydemir4
1Research Institute for Sustainable Energy, TCG Centres for Research and Education in Science and Technology, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700091, West Bengal, India. kingshuk.roy@tcgcrest.org.
Abstract:
The development of efficient, earth-abundant electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is paramount for sustainable green hydrogen production. Herein, we report a Mo-doped Fe2C-carbon composite synthesized via a scalable pyrolysis strategy. The optimized catalyst exhibits HER activity in 0.1 M KOH, requiring a low overpotential (∼260 mV) to reach 10 mA cm-2, long-term stability and displaying a Tafel slope of 90 mV dec-1 in 0.1 M KOH. Post-mortem X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) reveals an in situ electrochemical reduction of the surface into metallic Fe0 and Mo0 states during the reaction. We demonstrate that the precise incorporation of Mo atoms into the Fe2C lattice modulates the electronic structure, effectively downshifting the d-band center to optimize the Gibbs free energy of hydrogen adsorption while accelerating the Volmer step. While FeMoNC2 facilitates water dissociation through its oxophilic nature, we find FeMo-NC3 leads to a decline in activity due to phase segregation. This work highlights the importance of in situ structural evolution, and electronic tuning in designing high-performance bimetallic carbide catalysts.
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