High-Performance Hydrogen Evolution Electrocatalyst Derived from Ni3C Nanoparticles Embedded in a Porous Carbon Network.

In this letter, we report a facile self-foaming strategy to synthesize Ni3C nanoparticles embedded in a porous carbon network (Ni3C@PCN) by rationally incorporating a nickel salt precursor into the carbon source. As a novel hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalyst, the Ni3C@PCN shows superior catalytic activity with an onset potential of -65 mV, an overpotential of 262 mV to achieve 50 mA cm-2 current density, a Tafel slope of 63.4 mV/dec, and durability over 12 h in acidic media. The excellent performance of the novel 3D composite material along with its low-cost merits is suggestive of great potential for scalable electrocatalytic H2 production.