Synergistic Modulation of Mo ₂ C/WC Heterostructures for Boosted Hydrogen Evolution and Solar-Driven Water Splitting

Heterointerface engineering between carbides with distinct synergetic effects has been deemed an effective strategy for enhancing the electrocatalytic performance of hydrogen production. Herein, a facile one-step calcination protocol is developed to fabricate Mo2C/WC heterostructured nanoparticles encapsulated in a nitrogen-doped carbon matrix (Mo2C/WC@NC). Owing to the optimized heterointerface electronic structure, enhanced electrical conductivity, and abundant electrochemical active sites, the Mo2C/WC@NC heterostructured composite functions as a prominent electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Accordingly, Mo2C/WC@NC displays overpotentials of 66 mV (1.0 M KOH) and 111 mV (0.5 M H2SO4) at a current density of 10 mA/cm2 without iR-compensation, accompanied by robust durability of over 350 h in both electrolytes. In addition, the self-assembled Mo2C/WC@NC/CC||Mo2C/WC@NC/CC water-splitting device exhibits efficient electrolysis driven by solar energy. This work highlights a straightforward strategy for designing high-performance bimetallic carbon-based heterostructured electrocatalysts for green H2 production.