Bimetallic carbide armored by nitrogen-doped carbon for oxygen evolution reaction and wastewater treatment

Continuous advancements in renewable energy-based hydrogen generation technologies necessitate the need for highly effective electrocatalysts for overall water splitting (OWS). In this study, wedeveloped a new core-shell bimetallic carbide encapsulated in seaweed derived nitrogen-doped graphitic carbon nanosheets (FeMoC@NC).The FeMoC@NC electrocatalyst exhibited an ordered mesoporous structure, excellent connectivity and higher active site exposure. As compared to the various electrocatalysts studied in the present investigations, the FeMoC@NC showed excellent OER activity in both alkaline and acidic environments, where the attained overpotentials are 320 mV and 246 mV at 10 mA/cm 2 in 1 M KOH and 0.5 M H 2 SO 4 electrolytes, respectively. Moreover, the as-developed FeMoC@NC electocatalyst exhibited exceptional durability and stability. For measuring the OWS activity, the electrodes fabricated as FeMoC@NC||PtC exhibits a low cell voltage of 1.76 V to achieve the current density of 10 mA/cm 2 . The structure of the catalyst promotes active site exposure, modulates electronic configurations, facilitates efficient electron transfer and mass diffusion, and collectively contributing to the observed enhancement in OER activity. Furthermore, the possibilities of as-developed catalyst materials in environmental remediation was assessed through the sonocatalytic degradation of the Rhodamine B (RhB) dye. The FeMoC@C catalyst displayed efficient sonocatalytic activity via eliminating 82.8 % of RhB within a 2 h treatment period. This work contributes to the advancement of efficient sustainable catalysts for water splitting, wastewater remediation, and bio-waste recycling. • A bifunctional core-shell FeMoC@NC electrocatalyst developed from seaweed. • OER overpotential of 320 mV (alkaline) and 246 mV (acidic) at 10 mA/cm 2 . • The OWS performance of FeMoC@NC.||PtC achieves a cell voltage of 1.76 V. • FeMoC@C catalyst exhibits excellent catalytic activity for RhB degradation.