Ni3Mo3N coupled with nitrogen-rich carbon microspheres as an efficient hydrogen evolution reaction catalyst and electrochemical sensor for H2O2 detection.

Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and electrochemical analysis are two important fields of electrochemical research at present. We found that both HER and some electrochemical analytical reactions relied on the concentration of hydrogen ions (H+) in solution, so we intended to develop an electrode material that is sensitive to H+ and can be used for both HER and some electrochemical analyses. In this work, we synthesized Ni 3 Mo 3 N coupled with nitrogen-rich carbon microspheres (Ni 3 Mo 3 N@NC MSs) as highly efficient electrode material for HER and detection of Hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2), which plays an important role in physiological processes. Here the aniline was used as the nitrogen and carbon sources to synthesize Ni 3 Mo 3 N@NC. The Ni 3 Mo 3 N@NC MSs showed high performance for HER in 1 M KOH solution with a small overpotential of 51 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and superior stability. For H 2 O 2 detection, a detection limit of 1 μM (S/N = 3), sensitivity of 120.3 μA·mM−1 cm−2 and linear range of 5 μM–40 mM can be achieved, respectively. This work will open up a low-cost and easy avenue to synthesize transition metal nitrides coupled with N-doped carbon as bifunctional electrode material for HER and electrochemical detection. [Display omitted] • Bifunctional electrode material for HER and H 2 O 2 detection. • Using aniline as the nitrogen source to synthesize TMNs. • Low overpotential of 51 mV at 10 mA cm−2 for HER. • A sensitivity of 120.3 μA·mM−1 cm−2 for detection of H 2 O 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]