Soft Template Modification of Molybdenum-Based Metal–Organic Framework Composite Derivatives for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have become a research hotspot for hydrogen evolution electrocatalysts due to their high specific surface area and porous structure. However, the poor conductivity of organic ligands leads to a relatively slow charge transfer rate inherent to the MOF. The development of MOF-derived phosphides can solve this problem. Herein, a novel polyoxometalate-based MOF (JLJU-4) was constructed using alkyl-chain organic ligands. Using JLJU-4 as the precursor, using gallic acid, which is widely present in plants and has a low cost, as the hard template and stabilizer, and ammonium polyphosphate as the phosphorus source, the pore-forming agent poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(propylene glycol)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) (F-108) was used as a soft template to induce the formation of a porous structure with phase communication channels. The mesoporous catalyst P-MoP/MoNiP@C was prepared by direct pyrolysis for the study of electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution. The introduction of F-108 prevents the risk of collapse and clogging of porous structures caused by high-temperature calcination. P-MoP/MoNiP@C exhibited a satisfactory hydrogen evolution performance and durability in both acidic (143 mV) and alkaline (192 mV) media. This work is the first to combine POMOF and gallic acid to obtain MOF-derived phosphides for hydrogen evolution, providing experimental ideas for the preparation of MOF-based hydrogen evolution catalysts.