Non-equilibrium plasma activated durable molybdenum oxycarbide electrocatalysts for acidic hydrogen evolution up to 10 A cm-2

Shiwen Wu, Taesoon Hwang, Amirarsalan Mashhadian, Tianyi Li, Yuzi Liu, Dewen Hou (), Kyeongjae Cho () and Guoping Xiong ()
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Shiwen Wu: The University of Texas at Dallas, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Taesoon Hwang: The University of Texas at Dallas, Department of Material Science Engineering
Amirarsalan Mashhadian: The University of Texas at Dallas, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Tianyi Li: Argonne National Laboratory, X-ray Science Division
Yuzi Liu: Argonne National Laboratory, Center for Nanoscale Materials
Dewen Hou: Argonne National Laboratory, Center for Nanoscale Materials
Kyeongjae Cho: The University of Texas at Dallas, Department of Material Science Engineering
Guoping Xiong: The University of Texas at Dallas, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution in acidic media at industrial-level current densities is limited by high overpotential, performance degradation, and consequently low throughput. To address these challenges, we develop nanoedge-enriched molybdenum oxycarbide (MoOxCy) electrocatalysts with a uniform phase by non-equilibrium plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The vertically standing MoOxCy exhibits a low overpotential of 415 mV and stable long-term operation (~ 0.11% performance degradation over 1000 h) at high current densities up to 10 A cm-2, corresponding to a high hydrogen throughput of 4,477.4 L cm-2, which exceeds the Department of Energy targets. Molybdenum oxycarbide catalysts are competitive with state-of-the-art transition-metal and even noble-metal catalysts in terms of throughput and lifetime throughput. The key mechanism involves carbon incorporation into MoO2 lattices, which lowers the Mo valence and weakens Mo-H binding energy, thereby improving hydrogen evolution performance. Density functional theory results suggest that carbon atoms in MoOxCy increase the binding energy between Mo and the adjacent atoms, enhancing MoOxCy structural stability. This study establishes a pathway toward practical and efficient transition-metal catalysts for hydrogen evolution.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-65734-8

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