Development and Evaluation of Sacrificial Template-Based CoMo-LDH Electrode for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Water splitting is a highly promising approach for producing high-purity hydrogen using renewable energy sources, providing a sustainable and environmentally friendly pathway to carbon neutrality. Of the two half-reactions involved in water electrolysis, the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) plays a particularly critical role, as it largely determines the overall energy efficiency and performance of the system. Although platinum group metal (PGM)-based catalysts, such as platinum (Pt), have been widely recognized for their exceptional HER activity and fast reaction kinetics, their high cost and limited availability pose significant challenges for practical and large-scale applications. This economic and resource limitation has driven extensive research into the development of efficient, durable, and cost-effective non-precious metal alternatives that can replace PGMs while maintaining comparable performance. In this study, we designed and fabricated a cobalt-molybdenum layered double hydroxide (CoMo-LDH) electrode specifically for HER, employing a sequential electrodeposition process followed by a surface chemical reaction to achieve the desired structure. The resulting CoMo-LDH exhibited a nanosheet morphology with a high specific surface area, which significantly enhanced catalytic activity. In addition, the introduction of high-valence molybdenum created oxygen vacancies within the lattice, which effectively modulated the adsorption and binding energies of key reaction intermediates while preserving overall electrical neutrality. These structural and electronic features collectively contributed to remarkable HER performance and long-term operational stability.