Cu/Mo2C synthesized through Anderson-type polyoxometalates modulate interfacial water structure to achieve hydrogen evolution at high current density

The development of efficient non-precious metal catalysts is important for the large-scale application of alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction(HER).Here,we synthesized a composite catalyst of Cu and Mo_(2)C(Cu/Mo_(2)C)using Anderson-type polyoxometalates(POMs)synthesized by the facile soaking method as precursors.The electronic interaction between Cu and Mo_(2)C drives the positive charge of Cu,alleviating the strong adsorption of hydrogen at the Mo site by modulating the d-band center of Mo_(2)C.By studying the interfacial water structure using in situ attenuated total reflection surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy(ATR-SEIRAS),we determined that the positively charged Cu crystals have the function of activating water molecules and optimizing the interfacial water structure.The interfacial water of Cu/Mo_(2)C contains a large amount of free water,which could facilitate the transport of reaction intermediates.Due to activated water molecules and optimized interfacial water structure and hydrogen adsorption energy,the overpotential of Cu/Mo_(2)C is 24 mV at a current density of 10 mA·cm^(-2) and 178 mV at a current density of 1000 mA·cm^(-2).This work improves catalyst performance in terms of interfacial water structure optimization and deepens the understanding of water-mediated catalysis.