Hydrogen evolution reaction in full pH range on nickel doped tungsten carbide nanocubes as efficient and durable non-precious metal electrocatalysts

Abstract Design of novel inexpensive non-precious metal electrocatalysts to replace Pt based electrocatalysts for wide pH range hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) still remains great challenges and opportunities, for globally sustainable supply of clean hydrogen. Ni doped tungsten carbide nanocubes supported on Ni foam (W1-xNixC NCs/NF) synthesized via a hydrothermal-carbonization methods is reported. W1-xNixC NCs/NF electrocatalysts exhibit excellent catalytic performance with overpotentials lower than 50 mV in both acidic, alkaline and neutral medium. Meanwhile, large electrochemical surface area and better conductivities of W1-xNixC NCs/NF electrocatalysts are deemed in favour of its efficient catalytic properties. Moreover, the electrocatalysts show superior stability in wide pH range. It is believed that the present work provides a novel strategy for designing low-cost and efficient pH universal non-precious metal electrocatalysts for HER.