Novel N‐Mo2C Active Sites for Efficient Solar‐to‐Hydrogen Generation

Abstract Hydrogen production from water driven by electrochemical/solar energy is extremely desirable, but it requires a capable and robust electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). For the aforesaid purpose, molybdenum carbide (Mo 2 C) has been considered as an efficient electrocatalyst for hydrogen production; however, N‐Mo 2 C has been less focused upon. For this purpose, we report a facile method for the synthesis of N‐Mo 2 C active species. The as‐synthesized electrocatalyst exhibits a remarkable electrochemical performance for HER with a small onset potential of 30.6 mV vs. RHE and requires overpotential ( η ) of only 99.3 mV vs. RHE to render −10 mA cm −2 current density. The Tafel slope of 62.8 mV dec −1 further demonstrates the favorable reaction kinetics of the electrocatalyst. Moreover, for practical applications, solar‐driven hydrogen production has been efficiently implemented, which shows excellent faradaic efficiency (95.2 %) as well as solar‐to‐hydrogen generation efficiency (1.14 %). This facile approach for the synthesis of N‐Mo 2 C active species can provide valuable enlightenment for the further development of photo‐/electrocatalysts.