A molten salt approach for synthesizing Mo2N nanoparticles embedded in N-doped mesoporous carbon as efficient hydrogen evolution electrocatalysts

Abstract

This study presents a facile and effective molten salt strategy to synthesize Mo₂N nanoparticles embedded in N-doped mesoporous carbon using molten salts as templates. The resulting composites had high surface areas and pore volumes. Additionally, the synthesized samples exhibited excellent activity and durability for hydrogen evolution reaction across a wide pH range, with low overpotentials and small Tafel slopes. After 1000 cycles of long-term testing, the electrocatalyst achieved excellent durability. Furthermore, the low cost and simplicity of the proposed synthetic approach make it a promising method for future synthesis of similar transition metal composites.