Ultrasmall molybdenum-iron nitride nanoparticles confined carbon nanotubes hybrids for efficient overall water splitting

In an attempt to find an alternative approach to reduce the use of noble metal-based electrocatalysts, a new hybrid nanostructure based on molybdenum-iron nitride nanoparticles (Mo–Fe–N NPs) deposited carbon nanotubes (CNTs) supported on nickel foam substrate is fabricated via a facile synthetic approach. Highly uniform and dense Mo–Fe–N NPs achieves full coverage on surface of the CNTs with good interactions and enhanced hetero-charge transfer, thus leading to improvements in both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The fabricated hybrid shows small overpotential of 106 mV at 10 mA cm−2 for HER and 420 mV at 100 mA cm−2 for OER, along with prospective stability after 20 h of continuous testing in alkaline electrolyte (1.0 M KOH). The catalytic activities of the Mo–Fe–N/CNTs material are shown to be superior to those of other synthesized catalysts as well as of commercial Pt/C and RuO2 catalysts. These results may pave a potential route to the fabrication of novel electrocatalysts having high performance that can effectively replace precious metal-based catalysts in electrochemical water splitting technology.