Core–Shell‐Structured Tungsten Carbide Encapsulated within Nitrogen‐Doped Carbon Spheres for Enhanced Hydrogen Evolution

It is highly desirable and remains a great challenge to develop alternative hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts that are low-cost, highly efficient, and exhibit excellent stability. In this work, we report the synthesis of tungsten carbide nanocrystallites encapsulated within nitrogen-doped carbon (TCNC) spheres through in situ polymerization of dopamine with metatungstate followed by carburization under an inert atmosphere. During the in situ and confined carburization process, very small tungsten carbide nanocrystallites are obtained and uniformly dispersed in the simultaneously generated carbon matrix. Benefited from the unique structure and morphology, the resultant TCNC spheres exhibit high electrocatalytic activity and excellent stability toward HER in both acidic and alkaline solutions.